SCIENTIFIC    MANAGEMENT 


A  History  and  Criticism 


BY 

HORACE  BOOKWALTER  DRURY 

Instructor  in  Economics  and  Sociology 
The  Ohio  State  University 


SUBMITTED  IN  PARTIAL  FULFILMENT  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS 

FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 

IN  THE 

FACULTY  OF  POLITICAL  SCIENCE 
COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 


NEW  YORK 
1915 


COPYRIGHT,  1915 

BY 
HORACE  BOOKWALTER  DRURY 


TO 
A.  W.  D. 

AND 

S.  B.  D. 


311.450 


PREFACE 


THIS  monograph  has  been  written  under  the  super- 
vision of  Professor  Henry  R.  Seager,  who  suggested  the 
field  to  be  covered,  and  brightened  the  way  by  his  en- 
couragement. From  his  teaching  and  counsel  arose  the 
wish  to  treat  the  subject  from  the  broadly-social  point 
of  view. 

Most  of  the  men  whose  work  is  described  in  the  fol- 
lowing pages  have  given  me  more  or  less  of  their  time. 
But  my  debt  on  this  score  is  mainly  to  Robert  T.  Kent, 
editor  of  Industrial  Engineering.  He  has  been  my 
most  useful  guide  as  to  the  personalities  and  concrete 
events  which  constitute  the  real  scientific  management. 

My  friend,  Mr.  E.  F.  Simonds,  gave  indispensable  as- 
sistance in  the  preparation  of  the  first  draft.  I  have 
recently  profited  by  a  number  of  suggestions  offered  by 
Dr.  Carl  E.  Parry,  of  the  Ohio  State  University,  who 
read  most  of  the  manuscript. 

HORACE  B.  DRURY. 

OHIO  STATE  UNIVERSITY, 

March  9,  1915. 
281]  7 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


PART  I 
A  HISTORY  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 


CHAPTER  I 

PACK 

THE  MEANING  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  . 15 

/     i.  The  Origin  of  the  Term 15 

)   2.  The  Movement  Briefly  Described 22 

\  3.  The  Boundaries  of  Scientific  Management 27 

Vx 

CHAPTER  II 

EARLY  ATTEMPTS  AT  A  SOLUTION  OF  THE  WAGES  PROBLEM 30 

1.  The  American  Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers 31 

2.  The  Wages  Problem 32 

3.  Profit  Sharing 36 

4.  Henry  R.  To wne's  "Gain- Sharing" 38 

5.  Frederick  A.  Halsey's  "  Premium  Plan  " 41 

6.  The  "  Rowan  Plan  " t  50 

CHAPTER  III 

THE  GENESIS  OF  THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 53 

1.  The  First  Scientific  Management 54 

a.  Elementary  Time  Study 56 

b.  The  Differential  Rate 59 

c.  Conclusions 63 

2.  The  Scope  of  Scientific  Management  Enlarged 65 

a.  The  First  Phase  of  Complete  Scientific  Management :  Securing  the 

Initiative  of  the  Workmen 66 

283]  9 


I0  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  [284 

PACK 

b.  The  Second  Phase  of  Complete  Scientific  Management :  Improving 

Methods  of  Work 69 

1 I )  Standardization  of  Tools  and  Equipment 69 

(2)  Routing  and  Scheduling 71 

(3)  Instruction  Cards 73 

(4)  Motion  Study 77 

(5)  Selection  of  Workmen 79 

(6)  Supplies 80 

(7)  Conclusions < 81 

c.  The  Third  Phase  of  Complete  Scientific  Management :  Organization  82 
3.  Conclusion :  The  Genesis  of  the  Principles  of  Scientific  Management    .    .  87 

CHAPTER  IV 

LIVES  OF  THE  LEADERS — Including  certain  Contributions  to  the  Enrich  - 

ment  of  Scientific  Management , 88 

1.  Frederick  Winslow  Taylor 88 

2.  Henry  L.  Gantt 92 

3.  Carl  G.  Earth 96 

4.  Horace  K.  Hathaway      99 

5.  Morris  L.  Cooke 101 

6.  Sanford  E.  Thompson 106 

7.  Frank  B.  Gilbreth 108 

8.  Harrington  Emerson 113 

9.  The  Scientific-Management  Men  as  a  Body 117 

CHAPTER  V 

A  SURVEY  OF  THE  TRADES  AND  PLANTS  IN  WHICH  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGE- 
MENT HAS  BEEN  INTRODUCED 1 20 

1.  The  Present  Status  of  the  Historic  Illustrations  of  Scientific  Manage- 

ment                ,   .    .    .  1 20 

a.  The  Midvale  Steel  Company 120 

b.  The  Bethlehem  Steel  Company 120 

c.  Bicycle-Ball-Bearing  Inspection 124 

d.  Bricklaying , 125 

e.  The  Santa  Fe 126 

f.  Conclusions  as  to  the  Past  of  Scientific  Management 129 

2.  A  Study  of  Several  Installations  of  Contemporary  Importance      ....  130 

a.  The  Tabor  Manufacturing  Company 130 

b.  The  Link-Belt  Company 134 

c.  The  Watertown  Arsenal 138 

d.  The  Cotton  Industry , 141 

3.  Extent  of  the  Introduction  of  Scientific  Management 144 


285  ]                            TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  1 1 

PART  II 

A  CRITICAL  REVIEW 
OF  IMPORTANT  ASPECTS  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

PACK 

CHAPTER  VI 

THE  PRODUCTIVITY  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 153 

1.  The  Value  of  the  Initiative  of  Workmen 153 

2.  The  Extent  to  which  Planning  may  be  Profitably  Carried 157 

3.  The  Place  of  Organization  in  Scientific  Management 161 

4.  How  Much  can  Scientific  Management  Increase  the  National  Income?  163 

CHAPTER   VII 

SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  AS  A  SOLUTION  OF  THE  LABOR  PROBLEM    ...  169 

1.  The  Views  of  the  Organization  Experts  with  Respect  to  Trade  Unions    .  170 

2.  A  Sketch  of  the  Relations  between  Scientific  Management  and  Organ- 

ized Labor 175 

3.  Is  Scientific  Management  a   Satisfactory  Substitute  for  the  Collective 

Bargain? 178 

a.  Scientific  Management  Removes  from  Labor  Some  Incentives  towards 
Organization 179 

b.  Scientific  Management,  However,  Does  Not  Adequately  Perform  the 

Functions  of  the  Collective  Bargain 181 

4.  The  Possibility  of  Coordinating  Trade  Unionism  and  Scientific  Manage- 

ment   .    .    .   0 185 

CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  HUMAN  SIDE 188 

1.  The  Charge  that  Employees  are  Overworked 189 

2.  The  Charge  that  Men  are  made  Automatons 195 

3.  Promotion— Skill— Wages 199 

4.  The  Humanizing  of  Management 202 

CHAPTER  IX 

OTHER  CRITICISMS  AND  CONCLUSIONS 205 

1.  Scientific  Management  But  One  Factor  in  Social  Life 205 

2.  The  Larger  Significance  of  Scientific  Management 207 

3.  The  Originality  of  Scientific  Management 210 

4.  The  Future , 214 

INDEX 217 


PART   I 

A  HISTORY  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  MEANING  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 
I.  THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  TERM 

THE  significance  which  has  come  to  be  associated  with 
the  words  scientific  management  may  be  traced  to  an 
event  which  occurred  in  the  latter  part  of  1910.  In 
the  early  summer  of  that  year,  the  railroads  of  the  United 
States  north  of  the  Ohio  and  Potomac  rivers  and 
east  of  the  Mississippi  had  filed  with  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  new  freight  tariffs,  so  framed  as 
to  involve  a  general  and  considerable  advance  in  rates. 
The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  had,  on  July  13, 
instituted  an  inquiry  into  the  reasonableness  of  the  pro- 
posed advances,  and  there  had  then  followed  in  Septem- 
ber, October,  and  November  a  series  of  hearings.  The 
vast  sums  of  money  involved,  and  the  fact  that  the  im- 
pending decision  might  become  an  important  prece- 
dent, led  to  a  contest  of  extraordinary  intensity  on  the 
part  of  both  the  railroads  and  their  opponents,  the 
shippers. 

It  happened  that  Louis  D.  Brandeis  had  assumed  the 
leading  position  among  the  fifteen  or  twenty  attorneys 
lined  up  against  the  proposed  advances.  The  railroads, 
upon  whom  the  law  had  placed  the  burden  of  proof,  had 
maintained  that  the  advances  were  necessitated  by  an  in- 
crease in  operating  costs,  due  mainly  to  a  recent  rise  in 
wages.  Wages,  they  pleaded,  make  up  nearly  one-half 
289]  15 


!6  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [290 

of  the  total  cost  of  railroad  operation ;  and  wages  had 
been  advanced  in  the  spring  of  1910  by  from  five  to 
eight  per  cent.  Therefore  the  railroads  must  receive 
greater  revenue;  or  they  would  not  have  funds  enough 
to  make  desired  improvements,  or  the  credit  requisite 
for  the  successful  flotation  of  their  securities.  In  the 
face  of  these  arguments,  Mr.  Brandeis  dramatically  took 
the  aggressive,  and  striking  out  on  a  novel  and  unex- 
pected tack,  he  declared  that  there  was  a  means  by  which 
the  railroads  could  raise  wages,  and  at  the  same  time — 
instead  of  increasing  costs — actually  reduce  them.  This 
system,  which  meant  high  wages  and  low  labor-cost,  he 
called  scientific  management. 

Where  did  Mr.  Brandeis  find  scientific  management? 

It  may  be  stated  that,  prior  to  November,  1910, 
there  was  nothing  which  was  generally  known  by  that 
title.  The  actual  principles  of  the  industrial  system  which 
Brandeis  had  in  mind  had  indeed  been  in  process  of  forma- 
tion for  about  thirty  years ;  but  "  scientific  management,  " 
the  name,  had  not  yet  become  an  all-embracing  slogan. 
Research  shows  some  adoption  of  the  parts  of  this 
phrase :  the  word  "management "  had  been  very  commonly 
used,  as  in  the  phrase  "  modern  management ;"  and  "  sci- 
entific "  also  was  a  favorite  term.  Even  the  combination, 
"  scientific  management,"  had  occurred  fortuitously  in  the 
writings  of  Frederick  W.  Taylor,  the  great  leader  in  the 
movement,  as  early  as  1903. x  It  is  said,  too,  that  the  full 
expression  was,  at  a  later  date,  designedly  used  by  Taylor 
in  explaining  his  ideas  to  visitors  at  Chestnut  Hill,  Phila- 
delphia. But  these  instances  are  cited  merely  by  way  of 
exception ;  there  were  other  real  names  for  the  system — 

• 

"Shop  Management,"  Transactions  of  the  American  Society  of 
Mechanical  Engineers,  vol.  xxiv,  p.  1366. 


291]         MEANING  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  ^ 

names  more  precise  and  much  more  common.  "  Scien- 
tific management "  had  a  definite  meaning  for  few  per- 
sons, if  any. 

Nor  was  this  general  ignorance  merely  one  of  words. 
The  idea  back  of  the  new  movement  was  itself  unfamiliar 
to  most  persons.  The  essentials  of  scientific  manage- 
ment had  indeed  been  presented  to  an  inner  circle  in 
papers  read  before  the  American  Society  of  Mechanical 
Engineers ;  while  a  considerably  wider  public  had  noted 
the  results  of  its  application  on  the  Santa  Fe  railroad. 
But  there  was  not,  as  later,  a  widespread  popular  move- 
ment, nor  any  general  acquaintance  with  either  principles 
or  results. 

Such  was  the  situation  when  Mr.  Brandeis  happened 
to  be  retained  by  a  manufacturer1  whose  plant  was  operat- 
ing under  the  plan,  today  known  by  the  name  of  scientific 
management,  but  then  unchristened.  Brandeis,  after 
studying  the  plant's  organization,  had  become  convinced 
of  its  intrinsic  merit.  When  therefore  the  railroads  ad- 
vanced the  plea  outlined  above,  he  determined  to  propose, 
as  an  alternate  solution  of  their  dilemma,  the  adoption 
of  the  new  principles :  he  made  preparation  to  put  on 
the  witness  stand  some  ten  of  the  leading  men  connected 
with  the  movement. 

As  a  preliminary  step  along  this  line,  Mr.  Brandeis 
called  together  several  of  his  prospective  witnesses  for 
the  purpose  of  working  out  a  plan  of  presentation.  He 
desired  that  they  should  reach  an  agreement  whereby  the 
same  things  should  always  be  called  by  the  same  names, 
and  that — most  important  of  all — a  single  term  might  be 
found  which  would  apply  to  the  system  as  a  whole. 
This  word  or  phrase  should  properly  describe  the  system, 

'The  late  W.  H.  McElwain,  shoe  manufacturer. 


l8  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [292 

and  at  the  same  time  appeal  to  the  imagination.  The 
conference,  held  in  the  month  of  October,  1910,  included 
five  or  six  persons.  After  those  present  had  considered 
the  merits  of  about  half  a  dozen  different  phrases,  all 
agreed  that,  for  the  purpose  of  the  hearings,  the  term 
"scientific  management "  should  officially  designate  the 
system.1 

The  witnesses  were  introduced  on  the  afternoon  of 
November  21,  and  the  hearing  of  their  testimony,  to- 
gether with  cross-examination,  took  up  almost  all  of 
two  days  and  a  half.  The  witnesses  testified  that  in  their 
experience  the  application  of  scientific  management — 
whether  to  the  handling  of  pig  iron,  the  shoveling  of 
coal,  bricklaying,  or  machinery  manufacture — had  in- 
creased the  output  per  workman  to  at  least  two  or  three 
times  its  former  volume.  Especially  startling  was  the 
statement  of  Harrington  Emerson  that  the  railroads  of 
the  United  States  might  save  $1,000,000  a  day  by  paying 
greater  attention  to  efficiency  of  operation.  Early  in 
January  following  Mr.  Brandeis  submitted  a  long  brief, 
about  half  of  which  was  devoted  to  the  subject  of  scien- 
tific management.  A  few  days  later  his  final  oral  argu- 
ment on  this  topic  was  delivered  before  the  commission. 

The  effect  of  the  insertion  of  the  scientific-management 
argument  into  the  rate-hearings  contest  was  felt  almost 
instantaneously  by  the  whole  country.  Only  a  few  days 
after  the  introduction  of  the  evidence,  the  early  Decem- 
ber reviews2  of  current  events  gave  great  space  to  the 

lThis  meeting,  held  at  the  apartments  of  H.  L.  Gantt,  was,  accord- 
ing to  R.  T.  Kent,  attended  by  Louis  D.  Brandeis,  Henry  L.  Gantt, 
Frank  B.  Gilbreth,  Henry  V.  Sheel,  and  Robert  T.  Kent.  We  are  told 
by  Mr.  Brandeis  that  among  the  names  sug-gested  were  "Taylor  Sys- 
tem," "Functional  Management,"  "Shop  Management,"  and  "Effi- 
ciency." 

2  See  Outlook  and  Survey  for  Dec.  3,  1910. 


293]         MEANING  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  Tg 

dramatic  testimony  of  some  of  the  witnesses.  By  Janu- 
ary, one  of  the  leading  railroad  journals *  had  begun  a 
series  of  articles'  in  which  the  railroads  were  defended 
against  the  implication  that  they  were  inefficiently  man- 
aged. And  through  January,  February,  March,  and 
every  month  of  1911,  the  periodical  press,  popular  as 
well  as  technical,  was  filled  with  explanation  after  expla- 
nation as  to  what  scientific  management  is,  why  it  is 
good,  or  why  it  is  worthless.  By  the  fall  of  1911,  Dart- 
mouth College  had  arranged  for  a  conference  to  spread 
information  as  to  the  merits  of  scientific  management ; 2 
while  on  the  other  hand,  owing  to  the  demands  of  or- 
ganized labor,  a  special  House  committee  was  inquiring 
as  to  whether  Congress  should  forbid  the  system  in  the 
government  service.3  In  March,  1912,  an  efficiency  so- 
ciety4 was  organized  in  New  York  City  for  the  specific 
purpose  of  applying  the  principles  of  efficiency  in  every 
department  of  life.  And  by  the  time  of  writing  this 
treatise  many  of  the  leading  universities  have  established 
courses  on  scientific  management.5  The  vision  of  the 

1  Railway  Age  Gazette,  Jan. -July,  1911. 

2  See  Addresses  and  Discussions  at  the  Conference  on  Scientific  Man- 
agement held  Oct.  12,  13,  14,  1911.     First  Tuck   School    Conference, 
Dartmouth  College  Conferences.    Published  by  the  Amos  Tuck  School 
of  Administration  and  Finance,  Dartmouth  College,  1912. 

-  3This  committee  was  composed  of  Wm.  B.  Wilson,  chairman,  Wm. 
C.  Redfield,  and  JohnQ.  Tilson.  See  House  of  Representatives'.  Report 
no.  403,  62d  Congress,  2d  Session,  for  the  committee's  guarded  ap- 
proval of  some  and  condemnation  of  other  of  the  features  of  scientific 
management.  Also  see  'Hearings  before  Special  Committee  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  to  Investigate  the  Taylor  and  Other  Systems 
of  Shop  Managemeut,  published  in  three  volumes  by  the  Government 
Printing  Office  in  1912. 

4  Later  incorporated  as  The  Efficiency  Society,  Incorporated. 

5 To  mention  a  few,  Harvard,  Columbia,  New  York  University,  Syr- 
acuse, and  Pennsylvania  State  are  known  to  have  introduced  special 


20  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [294 

movement  is  suggested  by  the  statement  of  a  Harvard 
instructor1  to  the  effect  that  scientific  management 
seems  "  to  be  the  most  important  problem  from  the 
practical  and  theoretical  point  of  view  now  before  the 
industrial  world."  Significant  also  is  the  exhaustive 
treatment  of  scientific  management  in  a  series  of  ad- 
dresses delivered  before  the  Western  Economic  Associa- 
tion, and  published  in  the  Journal  of  Political  Economy 
in  May,  June,  and  July,  1913. 

In  order  to  place  before  the  eye  further  and  final  proof 
that  it  was  the  rate-hearings  episode  which  introduced 
scientific  management  to  the  public,  a  statistical  analysis 
has  been  made : 

The  yearly  output  of  accessible  periodical  contributions 
whose  titles  have  contained  the  term  "  scientific  manage- 
ment''2  has  been  counted,  and  found  to  be — 

Prior  to  the  rate-advance  hearings     .    .       None 

During  December,  1910    ....  2 

During  1911 26 

During  1912 14 

These  figures,  which  tell  the  story  of  the  discovery  of 
scientific  management,  are  based  upon  a  comprehensive 
bibliography  of  the  "  efficiency "  literature  appearing 
between  1898  and  1913. 


3 


series  of  lectures  or  regular  courses  along  the  general  lines  of  scientific 
management ;  while  portions  of  the  literature  and  some  of  the  principles 
of  scientific  management  are  introduced  into  courses  in  economics  or 
engineering  very  generally. 

1  C.  Bertrand  Thompson. 

*  Or  ' '  science  of  management. ' ' 

3"  Select  list  of  references  on  scientific  management  and  efficiency," 
compiled  under  the  direction  of  H.  H.  B.  Meyer,  chief  bibliographer, 
Library  of  Congress,  and  published  in  the  "  Efficiency  Number  "  (May, 
1913)  of  Special  Libraries. 


295]          MEANING  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  2I 

That  not  only  the  name  "  scientific  management,  "  but 
the  idea  as  well,  became  public  property  because  of  the 
rate-hearings  contest,  is  statistically  demonstrated  by  the 
enormous  growth  in  the  total  literature  on  "  efficiency,  " 
which  occurred  immediately  after  and  because  of  the  hear- 
ings: 

All  Periodical  Articles  on  Efficiency  Subjects.^ 
1907 8        1910     (6  of  these  in  December,)  15 

1908  -5        I9*i  59 

1909  7        1912  ....    38 

Since  many  articles  are  about  scientific  management,  but 
do  not  contain  the  term  in  the  title,  as  a  means  of  meas- 
uring the  strength  of  the  scientific-management  move- 
ment this  last  table  is  more  serviceable  than  the  first. 

The  rate-advance  hearings  have  now  been  treated  at  suf- 
ficient length  to  give  the  important  result  for  the  purpose 
of  obtaining  which  the  topic  was  introduced.  The  sub- 
ject was  taken  up  because  it  was  deemed  advantageous 
to  determine  at  the  outset  just  what  is  meant  by  scien- 
tific management.  The  foregoing  paragraphs  have  made 
it  clear,  it  is  hoped,  that  if  we  wish  to  know  what  the 
term  embraces,  we  must  approach  the  subject  from  the 
point  of  view  of  Mr.  Brandeis  and  the  group  who  testified 
before  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  These 
were  the  men  who  first  gave  currency  to  the  words  "  sci- 
entific management ;"  it  was  their  account  of  it  which 
led  to  the  recent  wave  of  public  interest, — their  inter- 
pretation which  determined  the  public's  conception  as 
to  the  meaning  of  the  expression.2 

1  Meyer,  op  cit. 

\r    2The  scientific-management  movement  may  therefore  be  regarded  as 
pretty  well  defined  by  the  thirteen  names  which,  in  one  connection  or 


22  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [296 

2.    THE  MOVEMENT  BRIEFLY  DESCRIBED 

The  roots  of  scientific  management  are  to  be  found  in 
the  life  and  thought  of  the  late  Frederick  W.  Taylor.1  Mr. 
Taylor,  who  had  been  a  machinist  and  then  a  gang-boss  in 
the  employ  of  the  Midvale  Steel  Company  of  Philadel- 

another,  creep  into  Mr.  Brandeis'  brief  as  those  of  persons  identified 
with  the  system.  Frederick  W.  Taylor  is  named  as  the  discoverer  of 
the  earlier  principles.  From  correspondence  with  Mr.  Brandeis  we 
learn  that  he  shares  the  common  view  that  "  Mr.  Taylor's  contribution 
was  of  course  greater  than  any  other."  As  early  associates  of  Taylor, 
Brandeis  mentions  H.  L.  Gantt  and  C.  G.  Earth.  As  experts  who  en- 
tered the  field  slightly  later,  he  called  as  witnesses  H.  K.  Hathaway, 
F.  B.  Gilbreth,  and  Harrington  Emerson.  As  supervisors  of  plants 
where  scientific  management  has  been  a  notable  success,  may  be  classi- 
fied H.  V.  Sheel  and  H.  P.  Kendall;  as  officers  of  corporations  where 
scientific  management  has  been  installed,  H.  R.  Towne  and  J.  M. 
Dodge;  as  editors  who  have  written  about  scientific  management,  R.  T. 
Kent  and  J.  B.  Going.  The  name  of  J.  H.  Williams,  who  had  intro- 
duced certain  features  of  scientific  management  in  a  unionized  printing 
establishment,  completes  the  list.  This  ample  list  gives  us  our  bearings. 
The  remainder  of  this  treatise  will  be  a  study,  based  upon  a  variety  of 
sources,  of  the  system  which,  in  view  of  these  names,  we  understand  to 
be  scientific  management. 

In  spite  of  the  brilliancy  of  Mr.  Brandeis'  campaign,  that  part  of  his 
argument  which  dealt  with  scientific  management  seems  to  have  had 
little  effect  upon  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  In  a  report 
covering  64  pages  the  commission  dismissed  the  subject  of  scientific 
management  in  two  short  paragraphs  with  the  remark  that  the  system 
was  everywhere  in  an  experimental  stage,  and  that  it  had  not  been 
shown  that  these  methods  could  be  introduced  into  railroad  operation  to 
any  considerable  extent.  The  commission  indeed  decided  against  per- 
mitting an  advance.  But  the  main  reason  given  was  this :  that  the  net 
earnings  of  the  roads  had  been  so  liberal  in  the  past  that  they  could  allow 
the  men  higher  wages  and  still  pay  adequate  dividends.  The  general 
question  of  efficiency  of  operation  seems  to  have  come  in  as  an  alternate 
consideration  of  rather  secondary  importance.  The  commission  warned 
the  railroads  that,  even  if  they  should  find  in  the  future  that  their  reve- 
nues were  indeed  inadequate,  it  would  then  devolve  upon  them  to  ex- 
plain away  the  commission's  impression  that  they  had  not  been  giving 
sufficient  attention  to  economy  of  operation,  nor  adopted  the  superior 
methods  used  in  competitive  (non-monopolistic)  industry. 

JDied  March  21,  1915. 


297]         MEANING  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  2$ 

phia,  was  promoted  in  1882  to  the  position  of  machine- 
shop  foreman.  During  his  experience  as  a  workman, 
Taylor  had  been  constantly  impressed  by  the  failure  of 
his  neighbors  to  produce  more  than  about  one-third  of  a 
good  day's  work.  Wages  in  the  Midvale  shop  were  on 
a  piece-work  basis,  and  the  men  were  afraid  to  let  the 
management  guess  how  large  a  product  they  could  really 
turn  out  because  it  might  mean  a  cut.  This  tendency 
on  the  part  of  the  workmen  had  resulted  in  a  war  be- 
tween Taylor,  the  gang-boss,  who  was  trying  to  induce 
the  men  to  work  faster,  and  the  workmen  under  him, 
who  were  determined  that  by  fair  means  or  foul  they 
would  avoid  working  faster.  As  a  result  of  this  struggle, 
life  to  Taylor  had  become  hardly  worth  living.  Accord- 
ingly, shortly  after  he  was  given  the  greater  authority  of 
foreman,  he  determined  to  work  out  some  system  of 
management  by  which  the  interests  of  the  workmen  and 
of  the  management  would  be  made  the  same. 

The  burning  thought  that  possessed  the  mind  of  Mr. 
Taylor  in  those  days  was  this — that  the  difficulty  at  the 
root  of  the  whole  matter  was  lack  of  knowledge  as  to 
what  actually  constituted  a  day's  work.  How  could  the 
men  be  held  accountable  for  their  full  duty  when  the 
management  had  no  idea  of  a  man's  capacity?  Accord- 
ingly, the  first  thing  which  Taylor  tried  to  do  was  to 
remove  all  obscurity  on  this  point  by  making  a  scientific 
study  of  the  time  which  it  necessarily  takes  to  do  work. 
The  thoroughness  and  persistence  with  which  he  applied 
himself  to  the  accomplishment  of  this  task  is  eloquently 
vouched  for  by  the  fact  that  in  the  one  field  of  cutting 
metals  he  carried  on  research  for  twenty-six  years  and 
at  a  cost  of  $150,000  or  $200,000. 

But  all  this  study  in  itself  did  nothing  more  than  clear 
the  way.  The  task  having  been  determined,  the  next 


24  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [298 

important  thing  was  to  make  sure  that  it  was  performed. 
Ir  High  pay  for  success,  loss  in  case  of  failure — these  were 
the  two  sides  of  the  system  by  which  Mr.  Taylor  pro- 
posed to  push  the  workman  from  beneath  and  allure  him 
from  above,  until  it  would  be  at  once  his  necessity  and 
his  joy  to  make  production  leap  forward  and  upward  to 
the  maximum.  So  there  came  from  the  earliest  days  to 
be  associated  with  the  name  "scientific  management,"  the 
principle  of  the  differential  rate,  a  scheme  which  remained 
a  favorite  with  scientific-management  votaries  until  the 
invention  of  the  bonus  and  other  devices,  which  accom- 
plish the  same  purpose  in  a  somewhat  different  way. 

This  effort  to  arouse  the  initiative  of  the  workman  and 
provide  a  means  by  which  it  becomes  to  his  advantage 
to  do  his  best  constitutes,  historically  speaking,  the  first 
phase  of  scientific  management.  A  second  side  began  to 
be  practiced  simultaneously  with  the  first,  but  received 
no  great  recognition  in  and  for  itself  until  the  late  nine- 
ties. This  second  aspect  of  scientific  management  is  the 
effort  to  control,  not  the  quantity  of  effort  on  the  part 
of  the  workman,  but  the  manner  in  which  the  work  is 
done.  Standardization  of  tools  and  equipment,  routing 
and  scheduling,  the  issuance  of  instruction  cards  to  the 
men,  the  training  of  the  employee  in  the  most  improved 
and  scientific  ways  of  performing  his  work,  the  selection 
of  men  for  jobs  for  which  their  physical  and  mental 
make-up  peculiarly  fits  them,  more  satisfactory  systems 
for  the  management  of  stores — all  these  are  features 
which  originated  incidentally  in  the  course  of  pursuing 
the  first  aim  of  scientific  management ;  but  the  incidental 
advantage  resulting  from  their  application  has  become 
so  great  that  to-day  these  activities  assume  much  prom- 
inence for  their  own  sake. 

As  the  third  and  last  phase  of  scientific  management, 


299]          MEANING  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  2$ 

we  shall  regard  modifications  of  organization.  Changes 
in  organization  were  necessitated  by  the  enlargement  of 
the  functions  undertaken  by  the  management.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  a  novel  type  of  management  has  been 
evolved  which  has  become  quite  distinctive.1 

Mr.  Taylor  early  began  to  gather  about  himself  a  group 
of  disciples.  These  disciples,  though  inspired  in  large 
measure  by  the  vision  and  courage  of  their  leader,  were 
yet  more  than  mere  imitators.  Taylor,  in  spite  of  his 
warm  championship  of  practice  as  over  against  theory,  was 
himself  a  man  of  great  ideas — ideas  which  were  consider- 
ably in  advance  of  what  had  yet  been  fully  worked  out. 
It  was  largly  as  aids  in  putting  these  ideas  into  practice 
that  his  followers  have  made  their  impress  upon  scientific 
management.  Not  only  in  the  practical  administration 

1  Worth  noting,  but  rather  unclassifiable,  is  another  aspect  of  scientific 
management  much  emphasized  in  recent  years.  It  is  held  that  scientific 
management  produces  a  complete  revolution  in  the  mental  attitude  of 
workingmen  and  management,  the  one'  towards  the  other.  Instead  of 
spending  strength  fighting  for  the  biggest  share  of  the  surplus  earnings, 
as  under  other  systems,  the  two  groups  enter  into  friendly  cooperation 
and  mutual  help,  and  thus  turn  all  their  attention  to  the  task  of  making 
the  surplus  so  enormously  great  that  there  is  enough  for  all. 

The  greater  part  of  this  "  mental  revolution  "  we  would  classify  as  a 
by-product  growing  out  of  the  first  phase  of  scientific  management 
wherein  the  system  aims  to  so  adjust  wages  that  it  will  be  to  the  inter- 
est of  all  to  enlarge  the  output.  However,  in  this  Mr.  Taylor  and  his 
associates  would  perhaps  not  concur.  They  seem  to  regard  the  new 
spirit  (especially  on  the  management's  side)  as  an  original  cause,  as 
well  as  a  result  of  their  smoothly-working  system.  The  mental  change, 
they  declare,  is  the  essence,  while  the  mechanical  features  are  but  use- 
ful adjuncts.  They  frequently  minimize  the  importance  of  devices  such 
as  time  study,  wage-payment  schemes,  instruction  cards,  and  improved 
organization. 

Valuable  though  "harmony"  may  be,  it  seems  to  us  too  intangible 
and  too  general  an  idea  for  any  one  group  to  regard  it  as  the  basis  of  its 
industrial  system.  Only  when  an  ideal  has  become  a  plan,  do  we  have 
a  system. 


26  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [300 

of  plants,  but  also  in  developing  the  more  subtle  math- 
ematical laws  governing  the  operation  of  machines,  and 
in  applying  new  principles  to  wage  systems  and  manage- 
ment in  general,  have  these  associates  molded  the  outer 
form  of,  and  given  fuller  content  to  the  Taylor  science 
of  management. 

The  first  colleague  of  Taylor  was  Henry  L.  Gantt,  in- 
ventor of  the  bojaus  system,  and  today  generally  known 
as  the  surest  result-getter  of  the  men  who  are  introducing 
scientific  management.  A  dozen  years  later,  but  still 
among  the  earlier  men,  came  Carl  G.  Barth,  mathema- 
tician, and  inventor  of  the  slide  rule.  With  these  names 
may  be  associated  H.  K.  Hathaway,  famous  for  his  skill 
in  perfecting  scientific  management  for  the  Tabor  Manu- 
facturing Company,  and  the  eminent  and  versatile  Morris 
L.  Cooke,  director  of  public  works  for  the  city  of 
Philadelphia.  Sanford  E.  Thompson  performed  pioneer 
work  in  extending  the  principles  of  scientific  manage- 
ment from  the  machine  shop  into  the  building  trades  ; 
while,  a  few  years  ago,  Frank  B.  Gilbreth  won  great 
admiration  by  his  display  of  genius  in  the  reorganization 
of  bricklaying.  Finally  may  be  mentioned  Harrington 
Emerson  who,  in  addition  to  his  commercial  activities, 
has  had  much  to  do  with  making  "  efficiency  "  an  every- 
day word. 

To  go  into  details  as  to  the  extent  to  which  these 
men  have  applied  scientific  management  would  be  to 
draw  out  unduly  this  preliminary  sketch,  and  steal  from 
the  chapters  which  are  to  follow  their  proper  material. 
However,  it  may  give  definiteness  to  our  conception  of 
scientific  management  to  mention  a  few  of  the  more 
notable  examples  of  its  introduction.  After  the  early  in- 
novations at  Midvale,  the  next  important  scene  of  ad- 
vance was  at  the  plant  of  the  Bethlehem  Steel  Company, 


301  ]         MEANING  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  27 

where  from  1898  to  1901,  as  a  result  of  the  combined 
efforts  of  the  leading  scientific-management  practitioners 
of  the  day,  epoch-making  progress  was  made.  It  was 
here  that  the  interesting  studies  of  pig-iron  handling 
and  shoveling  were  made.  It  was  during  this  period 
that  the  Taylor-White  high-speed  steel  was  developed, 
and  that  the  Barth  slide  rule  was  invented.  It  was  at 
the  Bethlehem  shops  that  the  Gantt  bonus  system  was 
evolved.  The  most  important  development  of  scientific 
management  in  the  last  ten  years  has  been  in  the  plants 
of  the  Tabor  Manufacturing  Company  and  the  Link-Belt 
Company,  both  of  Philadelphia.  Scientific  management 
has  now,  however,  grown  too  large  for  the  limits  of  any 
one  plant  or  trade.  Besides  its  introduction  into  ma- 
chine shops  and  the  building  trades,  scientific  manage- 
ment has  been  applied  in  the  textile  industry,  the  print- 
ing industry,  and  so  many  others  that  the  list  grows 
monotonous.  Of  special  interest  to  the  public  has  been 
the  introduction  by  Harrington  Emerson  of  certain  of 
the  principles  of  scientific  management  in  the  shops  of 
the  Santa  Fe  railway,  and  its  installation  by  the  United 
States  government  at  the  Watertown  Arsenal. 

3.    THE  BOUNDARIES   OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

The  description  of  the  preceding  sections  may  now  be 
followed  by  some  conclusions  as  to  the  boundaries  of  sci- 
entific management.  In  the  first  place,  the  system  may 
be  set  down  as  confined  to  that  one  side  of  human  life 
wherein  men  cooperate  to  attain  industrial  ends.  The 
goal  is  usually  material  wealth;  the  actors  must  include 
a  leader  and  a  team  of  followers;  the  typical  habitat  of 
the  system  is,  in  short,  the  shop,  the  office,  or  the  gang 
of  laborers.1 

1  It  is  not  meant  to  imply  here  that  many  suggestions  cannot  be  drawn 


2g  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [-502 

Secondly,  the  horizon  of  scientific  management  may 
be  further  limited  to  that  one  phase  of  shop  or  industrial 
life  which  has  to  do  with  the  control  of  men.  Ruled  out 
entirely  are  all  considerations  as  to  commercial  policy — 
that  is,  programs  for  buying  and  selling,  or  decisions  as 
to  what  goods  shall  be  manufactured.  Excluded  from 
scientific  management,  also,  is  the  financial  aspect  of 
business — that  is,  that  which  has  to  do  with  the  relations 
of  a  company  with  its  stockholders,  the  borrowing  of 
funds,  and  the  keeping  of  accounts.  To  one  side,  more- 
over, lie  problems  connected  with  the  technique  of  pro- 
duction ;  that  is,  scientific  management  does  not  primarily 
concern  itself  with  those  aspects  of  chemistry,  physics, 
and  mechanical  engineering,  which  determine  the  pro- 
cesses of  manufacture.1 

Finally,  may  we  venture  once  again  to  narrow  the 
scope  of  our  subject,  and  conclude  that  scientific  man- 
agement's position  is  that  of  but  one  of  the  many  move- 
ments which  aim  to  improve  the  relations  of  management 
and  men.  Scientific  management  we  regard  as  an  histor- 

from  scientific  management  for  application  by  the  individual — for  in- 
stance in  medical  work  or  in  housekeeping.  Our  topic,  however,  is 
historical  scientific  management.  And  in  the  past  the  origin  and 
important  development  of  scientific  management  has  been  in  the  indus- 
trial field.  For  the  promise  of  important  influence  in  other  fields,  see 
Christine  Frederick,  The  New  Housekeeping,  and  Morris  L.  Cooke's 
report  to  the  Carnegie  Foundation  for  the  Advancement  of  Teaching 
on  Academic  and  Industrial  Efficiency  (bulletin  number  five) .  Such 
movements,  however,  are  essentially  an  extension  of  scientific  manage- 
ment, and  beyond  the  special  scope  of  this  monograph.  Cooke's  report 
is  discussed,  infra,  ch.  iv,  sec.  5. 

Scientific  management  must,  of  course,  take  all  these  other  fields 
into  consideration ;  and  often  marked  improvement  is  attained  in  them 
because  of  the  method  of  scientific  management.  The  handling  of  men, 
however,  is  the  system's  first  consideration,  and  its  main  reason  for 
existence. 


303]         MEANING  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  2$ 

ical  entity,  something  concrete,  whose  presence  can  be 
detected  and  verified  by  the  observation  of  distinctive 
accompanying  features.  In  the  last  analysis,  "scientific 
management "  is  not  a  jrent  deal  more  comprehensive 
than  "the  Taylor  system." 

Thus,  neither  all  science,  nor  all  management,  nor  all 
management  that  is  scientific,  forms  the  theme  of  this 
treatise.  But  that  the  special  movement  with  which  the 
monograph  deals  is  worthy  of  consideration,  we  trust 
that  no  one  who  reads  the  following  pages  will  gainsay. 


CHAPTER  II 

EARLY  ATTEMPTS  AT  A  SOLUTION  OF  THE 
WAGES  PROBLEM 

THE  present  chapter  is  introduced  mainly  to  prepare 
the  way  for  a  discussion  of  the  genesis  of  scientific  man- 
agement in  Chapter  III. 

The  angle  from  which  the  genesis  of  scientific  manage- 
ment will  be  viewed  in  these  two  chapters  will  be  some- 
what different  from  the  rather  personal  viewpoint  which 
prevailed  in  the  earlier  sketch  of  Frederick  W.  Taylor. 
Not  only  will  the  discussion  of  origins  be  much  fuller 
here;  but  also,  to  our  narration  of  what  went  on  in 
Taylor's  life,  there  will  be  added  a  portrayal  of  some 
things  which  were  occurring  in  a  larger  field.  This  larger 
field  was  the  membership  of  the  American  Society  of 
Mechanical  Engineers.  Taylor,  as  well  as  all  the  other 
individuals  who  have  been  especially  prominent  in  the 
scientific-management  movement,  have  been  members  of 
this  society.  It  was  in  papers  read  before  its  meetings 
that  all  the  important  contributions  to  the  theory  of  sci- 
entific management  were  made.  It  will  be  our  policy, 
in  short,  in  discussing  the  genesis  of  the  system,  to  treat 
its  origin  as  the  culmination  of  a  succession  of  efforts  on 
the  part  of  the  American  Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers 
to  solve  a  certain  problem.  This  method  of  dealing 
with  the  matter  does  not  in  the  least  detract  from  the 
credit  due  to  Taylor ;  for,  as  we  shall  see,  it  was  the  con- 
tribution of  Taylor  which  did  most  to  shape  the  attitude 
taken  by  the  society. 

30  [304 


305]  SOLUTION  OF  THE  WAGES  PROBLEM  ^l 

I.    THE  AMERICAN    SOCIETY  OF  MECHANICAL  ENGINEERS 

The  American  Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers  was 
organized  in  1880,  and  in  1884  adopted  a  set  of  rules  in 
which  it  was  declared  that  the  object  of  the  society  was 
"  to  promote  the  Arts  and  Sciences  connected  with 
Engineering  and  Mechanical  Construction."  The  first 
thing,  therefore,  which  must  be  explained  in  accounting 
for  the  genesis  of  scientific  management  from  within  the 
membership  of  this  body  is  why  a  society  founded  to 
promote  engineering  technique  should  have  launched 
out  into  a  consideration  of  problems  of  management. 
The  reasons  for  this  enlargement  of  function,  and  the 
proposal  that  it  be  attempted,  are  contained  in  a  paper 
read  before  the  society  in  1886  by  Henry  R.  Towne,  and 
entitled,  "  The  Engineer  as  an  Economist."  x  The  sub- 
stance of  the  argument  is  as  follows  :  The  final  value  of 
the  work  of  a  mechanical  engineer  depends  on  whether 
or  not  the  employer  makes  money  out  of  his  business ; 
but  the  making  of  money  depends  not  only  on  seeing 
that  the  technical  matters  connected  with  manufacture 
are  intelligently  looked  after.  To  a  surprisingly  large 
extent,  works-management  and  the  methods  of  dealing 
with  employees  react  on  costs.  A  diagram  is  introduced 
to  show  how,  in  a  certain  establishment,  a  special  system 
of  piece  and  contract  work  resulted  in  a  striking  reduc- 
tion of  labor  cost.  In  this  lucrative  field,  who  can 
accomplish  more  than  one  strong  man  charged  with  the 
management  of  the  shop  as  a  whole?  But  the  person 
exercising  this  authority  must  be  a  man  of  engineering 
training  and  practical  experience,  not  a  clerk  or  account- 
ant only.  Therefore  the  engineer  should  make  a  study 
of  the  problems  of  management  in  order  that  he  may  be 

1  Transactions  of  the  American  Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers, 
vol.  vii. 


32  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [306 

qualified  to  serve  in  this  new  capacity.  Mr.  Towne  con- 
cludes by  proposing  that  the  society  undertake  to  gather, 
by  means  of  papers  presented  before  its  meetings,  a  stock 
of  information  with  regard  to  the  little  understood  art  of 
management.  Thus  was  suggested  the  policy  which  the 
society  soon  began  to  practice,  and  which  has  been  fol- 
lowed with  notable  success  to  the  present  day. 

2.    THE  WAGES  PROBLEM 

When  the  American  Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers 
undertook  to  promote  the  art  of  management,  they  were 
not  interested  equally  in  all  of  management's  different 
aspects.  The  problem  which  they  considered  almost 
exclusively,  and  the  only  one  which  will  be  discussed  in 
this  history  of  scientific  management,  may  be  called  the 
wages  problem.  In  order  to  understand  in  just  what 
form  this  problem  appeared  to  the  engineers,  it  will  be 
advisable  to  look  at  the  operation  of  the  main  wage 
systems. 

Wages  are  generally  paid  on  the  basis  of  one  of  two 
criteria.  The  one  criterion  is  the  amount  of  time  put  at 
the  employer's  disposal  by  the  employee,  the  other  the 
amount  of  work  which  the  employee  performs.  The 
wages  system  which  depends  altogether  on  the  former 
mode  of  reckoning  is  called  the  day-work  plan;  the 
system  which  depends  altogether  on  the  latter  mode  is 
called  the  piece-work  plan. 

Now  engineers,  and  all  other  men  of  experience,  hope 
for  something  better  than  the  day-work  plan  ;  for  they 
find  that  a  man  working  under  it  does  not  produce  up  to 
his  full  capacity :  he  too  often  feels  that  an  increase  of  ef- 
fort benefits  only  the  employer.  David  F.  Schloss,  who  has 
made  a  thorough  study  of  English  factories,  writes  : *  "  I 

1  Methods  of  Industrial  Remuneration,  p.  53. 


307]  SOLUTION  OF  THE  WAGES  PROBLEM  33 

have,  in  instances  too  numerous  to  mention,  found  that 
the  excess  of  work  obtained  by  putting  men  on  piece- 
wage  has  been  from  30  to  50  per  cent."  Frederick  A. 
Halsey  declares I  that  under  the  day-work  plan  "  matters 
naturally  settle  down  to  an  easy-going  pace,  in  which 
the  workmen  have  little  interest  in  their  work,  and  the 
employer  pays  extravagantly  for  his  product."  Frederick 
W.  Taylor  observes 2  that 

The  men  are  paid  according  to  the  position  which  they  fill, 
and  not  according  to  their  individual  character,  energy,  skill, 
and  reliability.  The  effect  of  this  system  is  distinctly  demor- 
alizing and  leveling  ;  even  the  ambitious  men  soon  conclude 
that  since  there  is  no  profit  to  them  in  working  hard,  the  best 
thing  for  them  to  do  is  to  work  just  as  little  as  they  can  and 
still  keep  their  position.  And  under  these  conditions  the  in- 
variable tendency  is  to  drag  them  all  down  even  below  the 
level  of  the  medium. 

Hope  of  promotion  and  fear  of  discharge  indeed  keep 
the  men  at  work,  but  the  efficiency  induced  by  holding 
these  possibilities  before  their  eyes  ordinarily  falls  far 
short  of  reaching  the  manufacturer's  ideal. 

Now  these  failings  of  the  day-work  system  are  obvious 
to  all,  and  so,  from  time  immemorial,  employers  have 
introduced  wherever  possible  the  second  great  system 
of  wage  payment,  that  of  piece-work.  Under  this  sys- 
tem the  plan  of  payment  according  to  the  amount  of 
time  employed  is  abandoned.  The  basis  becomes  the 
workman's  efficiency  as  measured  by  his  output.  The 
piece-work  system  at  first  glance  seems  ideal;  but  that 
there  are  certain  obstacles  which  prevent  its  perfect 

1  "  The  Premium  Plan  of  Paying  for  Labor,"  in  Transactions  of  the 
American  Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers,  vol.  xii,  p.  755. 
~2"  A  Piece-Rate  System,"  in  Transactions,  vol.  xvi,  p.  861. 


34  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [308 

application  and  largely  destroy  its  effectiveness,  the  fol- 
lowing discussion  will  show. 

It  is  a  matter  of  general  experience  that  an  employer 
ordinarily  starts  a  piece-work  system  as  follows :  He 
estimates  how  long  it  should  take  a  skillful  workman  to 
perform  each  job.  Then,  having  in  mind  a  fair  hourly 
rate,  he  so  figures  the  price  per  piece  that  the  said  skill- 
ful employee  will  just  about  earn  the  proper  wage,  pro- 
vided he  applies  himself  with  industry. 

Now  the  object  of  the  piece-work  system  is  to  encour- 
age each  man  to  do  his  best.  Suppose,  therefore,  that 
an  ambitious  workman  succeeds  in  greatly  increasing 
the  volume  of  his  output.  He  earns,  let  us  say,  30  per 
cent  more  than  his  fellows.  All  goes  well  for  a  while. 
But  one  day  an  officer  of  the  company  looks  over  the 
pay  roll,  and  calls  the  foreman's  attention  to  the  fact 
that  some  of  the  men  are  receiving  wages  30  per  cent 
too  high.  A  mistake  has  been  made,  they  conclude,  and 
the  rate  is  promptly  cut. 

This  cutting  of  rates  has  occurred  so  frequently   and 
invariably   in   factory  life J  that  workmen   have   learned 
what  to  expect.     If  they  increase  their  output,  in  the 
\  hope  of  earning  higher  wages,  sooner  or  later  the  rates 
\  will  be  cut;  and  the  men  will  find  themselves  working 
)  much  harder,  but  for  no  greater  pay,  than  before.     So 
(  labor  unions  frequently  limit  the  earnings  of  their  mem- 
bers— and  thus  the  output — imposing  a  heavy  fine  upon 
those  who  transgress;  and  workmen  sometimes  go  to 
considerable  trouble  to  work  slowly  while  appearing  to 

1  As  an  illustration  of  the  extremes  to  which  rate-cutting  is  carried , 
we  may  cite  Secretary  Redfield's  mention  of  an  employer  who  boasted 
that  he  had  cut  the  piece-rate  five  times  on  a  single  job.  Tuck  School 
Conference  on  Scientific  Management,  Addresses  and  Discussions,  p. 
355- 


209]  SOLUTION  OF  THE  WAGES  PROBLEM  35 

work  fast.  The  piece-work  system  is  therefore  con- 
demned by  many  as  having  fallen  short  of  accomplishing 
the  purpose  for  which  it  was  created.  It  does  not  make 
it  to  the  interest  of  the  workmen  to  increase  their 
output.1 

1  Rate-cutting,  though  often  mean  and  unfair,  is  usually  unavoidable 
in  connection  with  the  straight  piece-work  system.  The  employer  who 
is  setting  a  price  for  a  new  kind  of  work  almost  invariably  overestimates 
the  time  which  it  will  take  to  perform  it.  He  has  too  many  things  to 
occupy  his  attention  to  be  able  to  work  out  the  cleverest  procedure 
which  may  be  employed  in  the  performance  of  the  task.  When  the  job 
is  first  being  tried  out,  the  experimenter's  halting  movements  little  sug- 
gest the  extreme  rapidity  which  the  dexterous  workman  may  ultimately 
acquire.  A  rate  is  set.  An  energetic  worker  starts  upon  the  job  and 
in  each  passing  year  discovers  new  tricks  of  the  trade,  new  methods  of 
enlarging  the  output.  If  the  piece-rate  remained  constant,  wages  would 
rise  to  unusual  levels — ten  dollars  a  day,  possibly,  in  some  cases.  Now 
the  employee  undoubtedly  deserves  a  reward  for  improving  the  methods 
of  his  work,  but  it  is  questionable  whether  he  is  entitled  to  as  great  a 
return  as  an  unreduced  piece-rate  would  yield  him.  The  improvements 
are  probably  simple  ones  that  almost  anyone  could  devise,  and  which  a 
good  man  ought  to  be  expected  to  make,  given  the  opportunity.  Just 
as  the  manufacturer  expects  to  see  the  savings  due  to  his  own  improve- 
ments ultimately  reflected  in  reduced  prices  to  the  purchasing  public, 
so  the  piece-worker  has  no  inalienable  right  to  enjoy  perpetually  a  given 
rate.  Especially  would  the  employer  in  the  above  illustration  be  justi- 
fied in  cutting  the  rate  upon  giving  the  job  to  a  new  man.  For  why 
should  a  workman  earn  unheard-of  wages  who  has  done  nothing  ex- 
cept adopt  methods  invented  by  his  predecessor  or  neighbor?  Finally, 
even  the  most  generous-hearted  employer  would  be  unable  to  pay  high 
rates  for  work  when  his  less  conscientious  competitors  are  figuring  their 
selling  prices  on  a  lower  basis.  Thus  it  is  seen  that  the  ordinary 
methods  of  introducing  piece-work  necessarily  involve  the  continuous 
repetition  of  a  cycle,  of  which  the  first  stage  is  the  establishment  of 
imperfect  rates;  the  second,  the  earning  of  unusual  wages;  and  the 
third  the  cutting  of  the  rates.  The  corollary  of  these  tactics  on  the 
part  of  the  management  is  naturally  an  effort  on  the  part  of  the  men  to 
limit  output.  In  the  struggle,  the  management  usually  makes  headway 
against  the  men;  but  it  is  generally  only  after  years  of  slow  progress 
that  the  rates  come  to  approximate  a  reasonable  return  on  the  basis  of 
thoroughly  efficient  work. 


36  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

3.    PROFIT  SHARING 

We  can  now  appreciate  the  problem  before  the  me- 
chanical engineers.  Whether  the  day-work  or  the  piece- 
'work  plans  were  in  use,  they  felt  that  very  serious 

1  economic  losses  resulted.     Accordingly,  the  attention  of 

\ many  men  was  turned  towards  finding  a  solution  of  the 
\difficulty,  and  a  series  of  movements  was  begun  of  which 
fthe  most  conspicuous  was  to  be  that  of  scientific  man- 
Jagement.  The  American  Society  of  Mechanical  Engi- 
neers were  not,  however,  the  first  in  the  field ;  and  as,  in 
inventing  their  own  plans  of  reform,  they  not  unnaturally 
started  out  where  others  had  left  off,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  explain  what  ideas  were  already  current. 

In  the  latter  half  of  the  eighties  there  was  just  one 
movement  which  was  winning  adherents  and  attracting 

/the  attention  of  the  society,  and  that  was  a  movement 

'towards  profit  sharing. 

A  philosophy  might  be  constructed  for  profit  sharing 
as  follows :  When  a  man  works  for  himself,  there  is  no 
labor  problem ;  for,  when  his  profits  are  his  own,  there  is 
every  inducement  for  him  to  work  to  the  limit  of  his 
comfort.  But  when  men  are  gathered  together  in  indus- 
trial groups,  and  all  the  profits  derived  from  their  labor 
go  to  the  owner  of  the  plant,  the  workman  is  no  longer 
concerned  as  to  the  success  of  the  enterprise.  Why 
should  he  not  shirk  when  there  is  a  chance?  Why 
should  he  care  if  he  spoils  material  or  interferes  with  the 
smooth  running  of  the  factory?  Now  since  it  was  this 
diverting  of  profits  from  the  men  to  the  absentee  owner 
that  gave  rise  to  the  labor  problem,  profit  sharing,  by 
reversing  the  process,  would  seem  to  strike  at  the  very 
root  of  the  evil.  If  profits  are  divided  among  all,  all  will 
be  led  to  cooperate,  and  all  will  prosper. 

This    general    philosophy   of   profit    sharing    must    be 


3i  i  ]  SOLUTION  OF  THE  WAGES  PROBLEM  37 

supplemented,  however,  by  a  statement  or  two  with  re- 
gard to  the  principles  upon  which  it  is  usually  put  into 
practice.  Inasmuch  as  it  is  the  employer  who  must  take 
the  initiative  in  introducing  profit  sharing,  the  employer 
takes  care  that  there  be  no  diminution  in  his  own  pre- 
vious earnings.  It  is  therefore  stipulated  that,  unless 
profits  are  larger  than  they  have  been  in  the  past,  there 
will  be  no  profit  sharing.  And  if  profits  are  larger,  what 
is  to  be  shared  is  not  the  total  amount  of  profits,  but  the 
gain  over  what  they  have  been  in  the  past.  It  is  possi- 
ble that  this  entire  gain  will  be  turned  over  to  the 
employees,  but  not  at  all  likely.  The  employer  usually 
wants  to  get  some  advantage  out  of  the  plan  himself, 
and  so  the  common  arrangement  provides  that  only  a 
certain  share  of  the  gain  is  to  go  to  the  employees,  and 
the  rest  is  to  be  retained  by  the  establishment.  The  in- 
come of  the  employee  derived  from  profit  sharing  is,  of 
course,  a  reward  entirely  above  and  independent  of  his 
regular  wages  or  salary. 

The  first  systematic  practice  of  profit  sharing  is  said 
to  have  been  started  in  1842  by  M.  Leclaire,  a  house- 
painter  and  decorator,  of  Paris.1  It  was  taken  up  shortly 
afterwards  by  a  number  of  other  French  and  German 
establishments,  and  as  the  years  have  gone  by  has  been 
adopted  rather  extensively — first  in  France,  and  then  more 
recently  in  England.  Of  interest  for  our  purpose  is  the 
fact  that  the  idea  was  received  in  the  United  States  so 
favorably  during  the  eighties,  that  in  1889  Mr.  Oilman 
was  able  to  record  the  names  of  thirty-four  American 
establishments  which  had  adopted  it  in  some  form ;  so 
that  in  the  number  of  its  establishments  the  United  States 
in  that  year  ranked  second  only  to  France.2  As  all  but 

Oilman,  Profit  Sharing,  p.  66. 

'l  In  the  following  decade  all  but  eleven  of  these  thirty-four  establish- 


38  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [3I2 

three  of  these  introductions  had  been  made  since  the 
beginning  of  the  decade,  it  may  be  seen  that  profit  shar- 
ing was  indeed  in  the  atmosphere  at  this  period.  It  is 
not  surprising  therefore  that  the  first  proposals  for  a 
solution  of  the  wages  problem  made  before  the  American 
Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers  were  along  profit-sharing 
lines,  and  that  long  afterwards  the  idea  was  still  being 
discussed  in  the  papers  read  before  the  society.1 

4.    HENRY  R.   TOWNE'S  "  GAIN-SHARING  " 

The  first  paper  presented  before  the  American  Society 
of  Mechanical  Engineers  in  which  a  serious  attempt  was 
made  to  grapple  with  the  wages  problem  was  read  in 
1889  by  President  Henry  R.  Towne,  under  the  title  of 
"Gain-Sharing."2  Mr.  Towne  had  made  a  study  of 

ments  dropped  the  profit-sharing  system,  so  that  though  twelve  new 
establishments  had  introduced  it,  the  total  number  in  1899  was  but 
twenty-three.  Gilman,  A  Dividend  to  Labor,  p.  346. 

1  For  further  information  with  regard  to  profit  sharing  see  (for  critical 
comment)  Schloss,  Methods  of  Industrial  Remuneration,  pp.  254-309; 
and  (for  a  defense)  Gilman,  Profit  Sharing,  1889,  and  A  Dividend  to 
Labor,  1899. 

2  Transactions,  vol.  x.     After  Mr.  Towne's  earlier  proposal  that  the 
society  consider  problems  of  management,  Mr.  W.  E.  Partridge  had 
made  a  start  in  this  direction  in  a  paper  read  in  November,  1886,  en- 
titled "Capital's  Need  for  High-Priced  Labor  "  (Transactions,  vol.  viii.). 
Mr.  Partridge  argues  that  the  prevailing  theory  in  regard  to  wages, 
which  holds   that  "the  less  the  price  paid  for  labor,  the  less  will  the 
product  cost,"  is  wrong.     On  the  contrary,  the  general  problem  of  the 
employer  is  "to  increase  the  earning  powers  of  his  men  from  year  to 
year,  and  to  do  it  in  such  a  way  that  the  men  not  only  earn  more,  but 
are  more  profitable  to  him."     In  June,  1887,  William  Kent  presented 
a  short  paper  entitled  "  A  Problem  in  Profit  Sharing"  (Transactions, 
vol.   viii.),   in  which  he  suggested    the  very   plan    later  developed  in 
Towne's  "  Gain-Sharing."     But  Mr.  Kent  had  not  worked  out  any  de- 
tails, and  declared  that  he  was  not  aware  that  the  plan  which  he  sug- 
gested had  ever  been  tried.     Mr.  Towne,  on  the  other  hand,  was  able 
to  state  at  the  time  Kent's  paper  was  read  that,  as  it  had  happened,  he 


313]  SOLUTION  OF  THE  WAGES  PROBLEM  39 

profit  sharing  as  practiced  in  Europe  and  America,  and 
had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  conditions  in  industry^ 
were  such,  that  some  plan  by  which  the  self-interest  of 
the  workman  would  be  identified  with  the  success  of  his 
employer  must  be  adopted.  But  in  the  prevailing  types  of 
profit  sharing  Mr.  Towne  saw  the  following  great  ,de> 
fects  :  The  workmen  benefit  .by,  or  suffer  loss  from,  fluc- 
tuations in  profits  for  which  they  themselves  are  not  in 
the  least  responsible.  Changes  in  the  prices  of  raw  ma- 
terials or  finished  product,  varying  skill  on  the  part  of 
the  management  as  relates  to  the  larger  matters  of  equip- 
ment and  organization,  varying  efficiency  on  the  part  of 
the  mercantile  staff  in  purchasing  supplies  or  finding  a 
market  for  the  output — these  are  some  of  the  things 
which,  under  orthodox  profit  sharing,  unduly  augment 
or  unfairly  curtail  the  dividends  of  the  workmen. 

So  Mr.  Towne  proposed  a  new  type  of  profit  sharing. 
His  plan  was  to  isolate  in  the  bookkeeping  those  com- 
ponents of  cost  which  the  laborer  has  it  in  his  power  to 
influence,  and  base  the  division  of  profits  upon  the 
amount  of  reduction  in  these  costs.  From  year  to  year 
a  record  was  to  be  kept  of  the  total  wages  paid  to  labor ; 
of  the  amount  of  raw  material  used1  (so  as  to  check 
waste);  of  the  cost  of  incidental  supplies  (such  as  oil, 
waste,  tools,  and  implements);  of  the  cost  of  power,  light, 
and  water ;  of  the  cost  of  renewals  and  repairs  of  plant ; 
and  of  the  cost  of  superintendence,  clerk  hire,  etc.  If, 
at  the  end  of  the  year,  the  cost  of  these  items  per  unit 

had  put  Kent's  precise  plan  into  operation  on  January  i,  preceding. 
Thus  Towne's  ''Gain-Sharing"  paper  deals  with  achievements  older 
than  Kent's  suggestions. 

1  To  determine  the  value  of  raw  material,  the  amount  used  was  multi- 
plied by  an  arbitrary  fixed  price,  thus  eliminating  the  effect  of  price 
fluctuations. 


40  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

of  product  was  found  to  be  less  than  it  had  been  when 
the  plan  was  put  into  effect,  it  was  to  be  assumed  that 
the  workmen  had  effected  this  saving;  and  this  sum,  this 
gain,  was  to  be  shared  with  them.1 

An  erroneous  picture  of  gain-sharing  would,  however, 
be  conveyed  if  we  did  not  mention  two  important  modify- 
ing features.  The  gain-sharing  plan  was  drawn  up  in  the 
form  of  a  "  contract/'  which  the  employer  obligated  him- 
self to  leave  unaltered  until  the  date  set  for  termination, 
the  period  of  duration  being  never  less  than  one  year, 
and  preferably  lasting  from  three  to  five  years.  The 
original  costs,  with  which  later  costs  were  to  be  com- 
pared in  order  to  determine  the  gain,  were  referred  to  in 
these  contracts  as  "  contract  prices."  The  first  point  to  be 
noted  is  that  the  contract  prices  were  not  always  the 
actual  original  costs  as  determined  by  the  books.  Of 
the  contracts  which  Mr.  Towne  presents  as  examples,  he 
says  that  "in  a  majority  of  cases  the  contract  prices  were 
fixed  at  rates  which  were  a  reduction  of  from  ten  to 
twenty  per  cent,  and  in  one  case  of  thirty  per  cent  from 
previous  costs."  He  justifies  this  action  on  the  ground 
that  there  was  good  reason  to  believe  that  increased 
effort  would  result  in  a  very  considerable  reduction  in 
costs. 

A  second  thing  to  be  considered  is  that  the  gain- 
sharing  was  not  necessarily  permanent.  At  the  close  of 
the  contract  period,  "if  during  the  previous  term  the 
cost  of  product  has  been  considerably  reduced,  he  [the 
employer]  will  presumably  (although  this  is  not  always 
the  wisest  course)  proportionately  reduce  the  contract 

1  Mr.  Towne  divided  the  gain  on  the  basis  of  one-half  to  the  opera- 
tives. Of  the  50  per  cent  going  to  the  operatives,  he  recommends 
giving  10  or  15  per  cent  to  the  foreman,  and  dividing  the  remaining 
40  or  35  per  cent  among  the  subordinates  in  proportion  to  the  amount 
of  their  annual  wages. 


315]  SOLUTION  OF  THE  WAGES  PROBLEM  4I 

prices."  Mr.  Towne  recommends  that  (where  the  pre- 
vious cost  of  product  is  well  known)  the  contract  period 
be  made  a  long  one,  so  that  the  men  may  not  limit  their 
exertion  because  of  the  prospect  of  a  reduction  of  the 
contract  prices  in  the  near  future.  Under  the  long  con- 
tract period,  "the  employee  can  afford,  for  the  sake  of 
present  gain,  to  disregard  this  question  as  one  only 
affecting  a  somewhat  remote  future,  and  to  use  his  best 
efforts  and  intelligence  to  effect  a  reduction  in  the  cost 
of  product."  Then,  when  the  opportunity  for  a  revision 
of  prices  occurs,  the  employer  will  be  able  "to  make  a 
larger  reduction  than  he  would  probably  attain  in  the 
same  time  under  the  plan  of  frequent  revisions,  and  can 
also  then  afford  to  act  more  liberally  toward  the  em- 
ployees in  the  matter." 

The  reader  of  Mr.  Towne's  paper  is  easily  convinced 
that  in  the  long  run  the  gain-sharing  plan  really  left 
everything  in  the  hands  of  the  employer,  and  that  on  his 
discretion  and  talent  for  dealing  tactfully  and  consider- 
ately with  the  men  it  had  to  depend  almost  entirely  for 
either  success  or  justification.1 

5.    FREDERICK  A.   HALSEY's   "PREMIUM  PLAN  " 

The  next  important  attempt  to  present  a  solution  of 
the  wages  problem  before  the  American  Society  of  Me- 
chanical Engineers  occurred  in  1891,  when  Frederick  A. 

1  The  gain-sharing  plan  was  invented  by  Mr.  Towne  in  1886,  put  into 
operation  in  the  works  of  the  Yale  &  Towne  Manufacturing  Company 
in  January,  1887,  and  by  May,  1889,  some  300  were  employed  under  the 
system.  Mr.  Towne  was  in  1889  enthusiastic  over  its  success.  The 
employees  had  cheerfully  accepted  the  plan,  and  •  in  the  instance  which 
Mr.  Towne  mentions)  had  drawn  dividends  equal  to  about  4  or  5  per 
cent  of  their  yearly  earnings.  The  Yale  &  Towne  gain-sharing  sys- 
tem was,  like  most  other  American  profit-sharing  enterprises,  aband- 
oned in  the  nineties  (Gilman,  A  Dividend  to  Labor,  p.  351).  For  the 
introduction  of  scientific  management  in  this  plant,  see  infra,  ch.  v., 
sec.  3. 


42 


SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 


Halsey  read  a  paper  entitled  "The  Premium  Plan  of 
Paying  for  Labor."1 

The  Halsey  premium  plan  is,  in  effect,  an  adaptation 
of  piece-work.  Mr.  Halsey  tells  us  that  he  has  no  use 
for  day-work,  because  of  the  easy-going  pace  and  lack 
of  interest  which  accompany  it.  At  the  same  time  he 
fails  to  see  much  good  in  profit  sharing  :  In  the  first 
place  profit  sharing  is  patronage,  in  that  profits  may 
arise  from  better  management  or  many  other  causes 
other  than  the  merits  of  the  workmen.  Secondly,  it  is 
demoralizing;  the  surplus  profits,  due  to  the  increased 
activity  of  the  more  energetic,  are  apportioned  pro  rata 
among  all  —  including  the  lazy;  this  spectacle  dampens 
the  ardor  of  even  the  most  enterprising  workmen. 
Thirdly,  profit  sharing  is  ineffective,  in  that  rewards  six 
months  or  a  year  ahead  are  too  remote.  Fourthly,  it  is 
not  fair  for  workmen  to  share  profits,  for  they  do  not 
share  losses.  And  finally,  the  workmen  have  no  means 
of  knowing  whether  the  agreement  is  carried  out  hon- 
estly by  the  management. 

Halsey's  main  attack,  however,  is  upon  the  iniquity  of 
the  orthodox  piece-work  system.  In  terse  but  lucid 
phrases  he  expresses  the  fundamental  difficulty  which  we 
have  already  discussed.  To  quote:  As  soon  as  a  piece- 
worker increases  his  output  so  that  he  earns  beyond 
what  the  employer  had  expected,  the  latter  cuts  the 
rate,  which 

is  in  appearance  and  in  fact  an  announcement  to  the  workman 
that  his  earnings  will  not  be  allowed  to  exceed  a  certain 
amount,  and  that  should  he  push  them  above  that  amount  he 
will  be  met  with  another  cut  .  .  .  matters  gradually  settle 
down  as  before  to  an  easy-going1  pace  .  .  .  Their  earnings 

1  Transactions,  vol.  xii. 


317]  SOLUTION  OF  THE  WAGES  PROBLEM  43 

are  somewhat  more  and  the  cost  of  the  work  is  somewhat  less 
than  under  the  day's-work  plan,  but  there  is  no  more  spirit  of 
progress  than  under  the  older  method.  The  employer  is 
constantly  on  the  lookout  for  a  chance  to  cut  the  piece  prices, 
that  being-  his  only  method  of  reducing  cost ;  and  the  men  are 
constantly  on  the  lookout  to  defeat  the  employer's  well 
understood  plan. 

Thus  Mr.  Halsey,  speaking  from  wide  experience,  holds 
that  the  piece-work  system  "  seldom  works  smoothly, 
and  never  produces  the  results  which  it  should."  The 
piece-work  system,  like  day-work  and  profit  sharingj  is 
incapable  of  infusing  a  spirit  of  enterprise  into  the 
workmen.1 

Halsey's  constructive  plan  is  a  scheme  by  which  he 
proposes  to  so  alter  the  piece-work  system  that  it  will 
never  be  necessary  under  any  circumstances  to  cut  the 
rates.  His  method  consists  in  first  determining  the  time 
which  the  men  have  been  taking  to  do  their  work,  and 
then  announcing  that  if  they  will  finish  it  quicker,  they 
will  be  given,  in  addition  to  their  old  day  rate,  a  new 
premium  rate  of  so  much  an  hour  for  the  time  saved. 
This  premium  rate  is  always  less  than  the  day  rate. 

In  order  to  arrive  at  the  fundamental  distinction  be- 
tween the  premium  plan  and  the  piece-work  plan,  we  will 
first  note  what  would  happen  if  the  premium  rate  were 
made  as  great  as  the  day  rate  (instead  of  always  being 

1  Mr.  Halsey  discusses  the  piece-work  system  before  the  profit-sharing 
plan,  and  indeed  discards  it  along  with  the  rest.  But  from  the  com- 
parative and  analytical  point  of  view,  the  premium  plan  is  as  we  shall 
see  more  nearly  piece-work  than  any  thing  else.  Though  Halsey  speaks 
pointedly  of  the  faults  of  piece-work,  its  principle,  the  appeal  to  indi- 
vidual self-interest,  he  makes  the  corner-stone  of  his  own  system.  So 
we  have  discussed  the  various  plans  out  of  order,  that  we  might  dispose 
first  of  those  systems  which  Halsey  rejects  altogether,  and  treat  last  the 
one  from  which  his  own  system  is  adapted. 


44  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

less).  That  the  premium  system  would  in  that  case  be 
identical  with  straight  piece-work,  the  following  illustra- 
tion will  show.  Assume  that  a  man,  who  has  been 
working  under  the  day-work  system  at  3oc.  an  hour, 
turning  out  one  job  every  hour,  is  put  under  the  pre- 
mium system.  Suppose  that  the  man  is  told  that  he  will 
be  paid  his  old  rate  of  3oc.  an  hour  for  the  time  which 
he  works,  and  also  (if  he  finishes  in  less  than  an  hour) 
be  paid  at  the  same  rate  for  the  rest  of  the  hour  which 
he  does  not  work.  This  would  be  equivalent  to  piece- 
work, the  said  employee  being  always  assured  of  an 
hour's  pay  whether  the  work  takes  him  a  full  hour  or 
only  twenty  minutes.  If  he  finishes  in  twenty  minutes, 
he  would  be  credited  with  twenty  minutes  of  work  and 
forty  minutes  of  time  saved,  one  hour  in  all.  The  next 
twenty  minutes  he  could  earn  another  hour's  pay,  and  so 
forth.  The  system  would  be  in  effect  a  piece-work 
mechanism,  the  rate  per  piece  being  here  3<Dc. 

But  the  premium  rate,  instead  of  being  as  high  as  the 
day  rate,  is  usually  about  one-third  of  the  same ;  and  this 
fact  makes  the  premium  system  different  from  straight 
piece-work.  In  the  following  tables,  the  day  rate  is 
fixed  at  3oc.  and  the  premium  rate  at  ice.  Note  that 
the  rate  of  increase  in  total  earnings  is  low  as  compared 
with  the  rate  of  increase  in  output.  Notice  especially  the 
correspondence  of  the  total  earnings  with  the  figures  in 
the  lower  column,  which  are  inserted  in  order  to  verify 
an  interpretation  of  the  premium  system  in  terms  of  piece- 
prices. 


319]  SOLUTION  OF  THE  WAGES  PROBLEM 

The  Premium  Plan 


Output 

Total 

(  lo-hour  day) 

Time  saved 

Premium 

Day  rate         earnings 

10  pieces 

0  hrs. 

$0.00 

+ 

$3-00      = 

$3-00 

15      " 

5     " 

0.50 

+ 

3-00      = 

3-50 

20 

10      " 

1.  00 

+ 

3.00      =» 

4.00 

25      " 

IS     '.' 

1.50 

+ 

3.00      — 

4-50 

30      " 

20      " 

2.00 

4- 

3.00      = 

5-00 

Hypothetical  Plan 

30  cents  for  first  ten  pieces,  10  cents  thereafter 
10  pieces  $3.00 

15      "  3-50 

20       "  4.00 

25        "  4-50 

30  5-00 

Conclusions  may  now  be  reached  regarding  the  real 
nature  of  the  premium  system.  The  plan  first  guarantees 
to  each  worker  a  full  day  rate,  and  then,  having  allotted 
to  him  a  quantity  of  work  which  under  the  day-work 
system  it  would  take  him  a  day  to  perform,  it  offers  to 
pay  him  for  whatever  he  produces  above  that  minimum 
a  premium  [or  piece-rate]  equal  to  one-third*  of  the  day- 
work  cost.  It  is  the  one-third  feature  which  is  the  unique 
and  essential  point  in  the  scheme;  "Making  the  hourly 
premium  less  than  the  hourly  wages  is  the  foundation 
stone  on  which  rest  all  the  merits  of  the  system  .  .  ." 
(Halsey.) 

1  One-third  is  the  most  typical  figure.  Mr.  Halsey  says,  however, 
that  nothing  but  good  sense  can  decide  just  how  high  the  rate  should  be 
in  any  given  case.  The  proper  rate  varies  with  the  nature  of  the  work. 
Where  an  increase  in  production  is  accompanied  by  a  proportionate  in- 
crease in  muscular  exertion,  a  liberal  premium  is  required.  Where  the 
only  requirement  for  speeding-up  is  an  increased  attention  to  speeds  and 
feeds  of  machines,  combined  with  an  increase  in  manual  dexterity  and 
the.  avoidance  of  lost  time,  the  premium  may  be  more  moderate.  In 
some  cases  ten  cents  an  hour  would  not  be  at  all  enough.  Of  other 
cases,  Mr.  Halsey  says  that  he  has  ''produced  excellent  results  with 
premiums  as  low  as  three  cents  an  hour." 


46  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [320 

As  regards  the  merits  of  the  Halsey  plan,  one  advan- 
tage claimed  for  it  is  a  simplification  of  rate-setting. 
Under  the  ordinary  piece-work  system  this  is  a  rather 
delicate  matter.  A  foreman  who  undertakes  to  set  a 
piece-price  for  work  as  yet  done  only  by  the  day  must 
first  go  to  the  trouble  of  estimating  how  long  it  should 
take  under  the  new  system,  the  idea  being,  of  course,  to 
reduce  the  time.  Under  the  Halsey  system,  on  the  con- 
trary, "  the  attempt  to  determine  the  possible  output  is 
abandoned.  Present  output  is  taken  as  the  basis." x 
This  means  that,  when  the  premium  system  is  intro- 
duced, the  men  are  allowed  for  performing  the  work 
just  the  length  of  time  which  the  records  show  they 
have  been  taking  in  the  past.  Now  they  may  double  or 
treble  the  output;  but  because  some  two-thirds  of  the 
gain  goes  to  the  employer  and  only  one-third  is  retained 
by  the  men,  the  gain  of  the  latter  is  in  no  instance  ex- 
cessive. The  security  of  the  management  consists  in  the 
fact  that  they  gather  a  substantial  portion  of  the,  gain — 
not  in  their  care  in  ascertaining  exactly  how  speedily  the 
work  can  be  done.  Hence  much  record-keeping  and 
calculation  is  avoided.  The  time  limits  come  ready- 
made  to  the  hands  of  the  bosses.  Both  rate-setting  and 
rate-cutting  are  automatic. 

Among  the  other  advantages  of  the  premium  plan  is 
the  fact  that  every  workman  is  guaranteed  a  day  rate,  no 
matter  what  the  output.  Also,  the  instant  that  an  em- 
ployee turns  out  even  slightly  more  than  under  the  day- 
work  plan,  that  moment  his  premium  begins  to  accumu- 
late. These  arrangements  eliminate  a  certain  friction 
which  ordinarily  accompanies  piece-work;  it  is  no  longer 
necessary  to  force  up  the  speed  suddenly  to  the  point 
where  piece-work  is  a  paying  proposition. 

1  Transactions,  vol.  xvi.,  p.  886. 


32 1  ]  SOLUTION  OF  THE  WAGES  PROBLEM  47 

But  the  chief  reason  for  the  development  of  the  pre- 
mium plan  was  neither  to  save  the  foreman  trouble  nor 
to  soften  a  workman's  first  contact  with  the  piece-work 
system.  The  great  difficulty  attached  to  straight  piece- 
work, according  to  Halsey,  is  the  fact  that  foremen  do 
not  know,  and  can  not  know,  in  how  short  a  time  the 
work  should  be  done.  Mistakes  in  rate-setting  are  in- 
evitable. The  premium  system,  which  allows  the  work- 
man's pay  to  fluctuate  only  one-third  as  much  as  his 
output,  strikes  at  the  root  of  this  difficulty.  In  fact,  the 
loss  resulting  from  a  mistake  in  setting  a  time  limit  is 
so  much  lessened  that  the  management  makes  it  a  prin- 
ciple never  to  make  a  reduction.  Thus  a  tradition  is 
built  up  that  rates  once  established  are  permanent,  and 
the  men  have  no  motive  for  restricting  output. 

Speculation  as  to  an  employer's  probable  profits  under 
the  premium  plan,  as  compared  with  those  under  ordi- 
nary piece-work,  should  take  the  following  points  into 
consideration.  Ordinary  piece-work — though  it  professes 
to  give  a  workman  the  entire  value  of  his  increased  effort 
— may  more  properly  be  set  down  as  a  system  which 
tends  to  transfer  to  the  management  the  entire  gain  due 
to  the  workman's  improvements,  this  being  accomplished 
by  rate-cutting.  The  premium  plan,  on  the  contrary, 
can j^tlavGJpim  to  yielding  the  management  more  than 
na^pH^^of  the  profits.  However,  as  the  straight 
piece-wOTk  system  tends  to  prevent  improvements  from 
being  made,  while  the  premium  plan  encourages  the 
development  of  the  possibilities  of  production;  the  latter 
is  often  in  reality  the  more  profitable  of  the  two.  That 
is,  a  tribute  of  two-thirds  levied  on  a  booming  produc- 
tion may  be  greater  than  a  tribute  of  all  levied  on  the 
work  of  laggards. 


48  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [322 

The  premium  plan  x  was  first  applied  to  a  shop,  three 
years  before  the  reading  of  Halsey's  paper,  by  William 
Kent  in  the  works  of  the  Springer  Torsion  Balance 
Company.2  By  1891  the  system  had  been  tried  with 
success  in  three  establishments,  and  since  that  time  has 


plan  was  Mr.  Halsey's  own  invention.  Frederick  W.  Taylor, 
first  in  1895  and  again  in  his  classic  paper  on  "Slop  Management" 
(1903),  has  characterized  it  as  a  modification  of  the  Towne  gain-sharing 
system.  This  position,  it  seems  to  us,  is  hardly  well  taken.  Not  only 
did  Halsey  explain  at  the  start  that  his  idea  was  clearly  formulated  be- 
fore the  publication  of  Towne's  paper,  and  was  in  no  way  suggested  by 
the  latter's  system  {Transactions,  vol.  xii.,  p.  780);  but  also,  a  compar- 
ison of  the  two  plans  shows  that  they  are  logically  different.  That  of 
Towne  calls  for  group-action;  that  of  Halsey  is  an  appeal  to  individual 
self-interest.  The  former  would  from  time  to  time  reduce  the  gain  that 
falls  to  the  lot  of  the  men;  while  the  latter  insists  that  his  very  purpose 
is  to  avoid  the  necessity  of  cutting  rates. 

In  only  one  respect  is  there  a  parallelism.  Both  propose  to  eliminate 
the  antagonism  between  management  and  men  by  dividing  the  gain 
arising  out  of  increased  productivity.  But  even  here  the  resemblance 
is  not  complete.  Towne  proposes  to  take  a  share  of  the  profits  that 
would  otherwise  go  to  the  management  and  give  it  to  the  men  (pro- 
vided extra  profits  are  earned  through  the  men's  increased  efforts); 
while  Halsey  proposes  to  obviate  rate-cutting  by  taking  profits  which 
the  piece-work  plan  promises  the  men,  and  turning  the  same  over  to 
the  management.  The  two  systems  are  alike  only  in  that  they  are  both 
compromises. 

The  real  reason  why  they  seemed  from  Taylor's  standpoint  to  be  re- 
lated is  this,  that  neither  of  them  tried  to  determir^g^ientifi^ly  the 
exact  amount  of  work  which  it  is  possible  for  men  totu^HfcpjIBBoth 
systems,  especially  Halsey's,  represented  rather  an  evasion^tt  thiPbbli- 
gation.  Instead  of  trying  to  take  the  matter  more  firmly  in  hand,  they 
represented  a  loosening  of  the  grasp,  a  despair  as  to  the  possibility  of  fix- 
ing rates  accurately,  and  a  resort  to  compromise  that  will  minimize  evils. 
But  this  similarity  proves  nothing  as  to  the  derivation  of  one  system 
from  the  other;  and  to  lay  stress  on  the  shadowy  resemblance  to  the 
neglect  of  the  marked  differences  is  hardly  just  to  Halsey  nor  a  reason- 
able interpretation  of  the  facts. 

2  Transactions,  vol.  xii.,  p.  768. 


323]  SOLUTION  OF  THE  WAGES  PROBLEM  4g 

found  increasing  favor.  By  1902 z  it  was  known  to  be  in 
use  in  the  United  States,  Canada,  England,  Scotland, 
Germany,  Italy,  and  Belgium ;  while  interest  in  it,  at  least, 
had  been  shown  in  Sweden  and  Austria.  But  it  had  at- 
tracted more  intelligent  and  serious  attention  in  Great 
Britain  than  in  the  United  States  or  elsewhere. 

As  to  the  gains  actually  realized  under  the  premium 
plan,  the  following  figures,  presented  by  Mr.  Halsey 
some  eleven  years  after  the  reading  of  his  paper,  tell 
their  own  story.2  First,  in  a  case  where  the  manufacture 
of  thirty-five  large  machines  under  the  old  system  was 
followed  at  a  later  date  by  the  manufacture  of  twenty 
duplicates  under  the  premium  system,  a  comparison  of 
figures  showed  that  the  time  on  the  second  lot  had  been 
reduced  43  per  cent.  This  figure  is  conceded  to  be  only 
approximately  a  measure  of  the  worth  of  the  new  system, 
as  conflicting  causes  operated  both  to  facilitate  and 
hinder  the  work  on  the  second  contract  as  compared 
with  that  on  the  first.  A  second  exhibit  by  the  same 
company,  not  open  to  these  objections,  though  unfor- 
tunately much  smaller,  showed  an  average  reduction  in 
time  of  41  per  cent.  In  this  second  instance  the  parts 
had  been  made  over  and  over  again,  and  both  workmen 
and  foremen  had  been  originally  positive  that  under  the 
old^stem^the  time  was  down  to  the  minimum  and  that 
it  ^pB  tweless  to  apply  the  premium  plan  to  them.  An- 
other exhibit  of  considerable  magnitude,  furnished  by 
another  company,  showed  an  average  reduction  in  time 
of  39  per  cent.  The  figures  for  the  reduction  in  wages 
cost  for  the  first  and  third  exhibits  were  respectively  25 
per  cent  and  28  per  cent,  the  average  increase  in  wages 

:F.  A.  Halsey,  "The  Premium  Plan  of  Paying  for  Labor,"  in  John 
R.  Commons,  Trade  Unionism  and  Labor  Problems,  p.  280. 
8  Ibid.,  pp.  283-285. 


50  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT     '  [324 

paid  per  workman  being  respectively  29  per  cent  and 
23  per  cent.  Mr.  Halsey  concludes : 

These  gains  are  so  large  as  to  excite  incredulity.  Most  men 
of  experience  will  not  seriously  consider  a  system  which  de- 
liberately proposes  to  increase  output  by  70  per  cent l  while 
reducing-  wages  costs  and  increasing  daily  wages  by  25  per 
cent,  and  I  am  satisfied  that  if  the  plan  did  about  half  as  well 
as  it  really  does  its  growth  would  be  much  more  rapid  than  it 
is.  Apart  from  exact  figures,  which  are  difficult  to  get,  is 
testimony  from  many  men  in  many  lines  of  work,  which  is 
substantially  unanimous  in  saying  that  the  system  works  in 
the  manner  described,  and  this  testimony  is  not  a  matter  of 
geography  or  nationality  •  .  . 

6.    THE    "  ROWAN    PLAN  " 

There  is  an  ingenious  modification  of  the  premium 
plan,  which  was  first  put  into  operation  in  Glasgow. 
When  David  Rowan  &  Company,  of  that  city,  makers 
of  marine  engines,  and  the  first  British  firm  to  take  an 
interest  in  the  premium  plan,  introduced  the  same  into 
their  works,  they  adopted  a  modification  which,  though 
not  approved  in  the  United  States,  has  been  followed  to 
some  extent  in  Great  Britain,  under  the  name  of  the 
Rowan  plan. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  the  object  Mr.  Halsey  had 
in  mind  in  inventing  his  system  had  been  to  obvia%  the 
necessity  of  rate-cutting  through  so  arranging  the  piece- 
rates  that  the  workmen  could  never  earn  excessive 
wages.  The  framers  of  the  Rowan  plan  feared  that  this 
result  would  not  be  realized  in  all  cases.  Suppose,  for 
instance,  that  through  some  unexpected  development,  a 
man  should  produce  ten  times  as  great  an  .output  as 

1  A  reduction  in  time  of  41  per  cent  is  equivalent  to  an  increase  in 
output  of  70  per  cent. 


325]  SOLUTION  OF  THE  WAGES  PROBLEM  ^j 

formerly.  Even  after  the  Halsey  plan  had  given  two- 
thirds  of  the  increase  to  the  management,  the  workman 
would  still  earn  three  times  more  than,  or  four  times  as 
much  as,  he  was  getting  under  the  day  rate.  Although 
the  multiplication  of  output  by  ten  would  perhaps  be 
rather  extreme,  yet  the  framers  of  the  Rowan  system 
did  have  a  serious  apprehension  that  in  some  cases  work- 
men under  the  Halsey  system  might  earn  wages  so  ex- 
cessive as  to  necessitate  a  cut. 

The  Rowan  plan  therefore  provides  that  after  a  certain 
amount  of  time  has  been  allotted  to  a  workman  as  a 
standard  time  for  the  performing  of  his  work,  he  shall 
for  a  shortening  of  that  time  be  rewarded  by  a  raise  in 
his  day  rate,  the  premium  added  bearing  to  the  day  rate 
the  same  proportion  that  the  time  saved  bears  to  the 
time  allotted.  Thus  if  the  time  allotted  is  60  minutes 
and  the  work  is  performed  in  40  minutes,  then  the  pre- 
mium added  to  the  day  rate  must  amount  to  the  time 
saved  (20  minutes)  divided  by  the  time  allotted  (60 
minutes),  of  one-third.  If  the  workman's  day  rate  is 
3oc.  an  hour,  it  is  now  raised  to  4oc.  an  hour  (30  plus 
one-third  of  30);  and  since  he  was  working  for  40  min- 
utes (two-thirds  of  an  hour),  his  pay  for  the  job  is  26^  c. 
(two-thirds  of  40). 

The  following  graph  shows  the  real  significance  of 
thislbodification  : 


I  17 


SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

CHART 
Comparing  Halsey  and  Rowan  Systems 

Output  per  day  (pieces) 
10      2O     30     40      50      60      70      8O      90     100 


[326 


0 


hour 


The  Rowan  plan  thus  accomplishes  its  purpose.  The 
proportion  of  time  saved  to  time  allotted  must  always 
be  a  fraction  less  than  one,  and  the  rate  of  premium  can 
therefore  for  no  output  quite  equal  the  day  rate.  Thus 
double  pay  is  the  limit  beyond  which  wages  absolutely 
cannot  pass.  The  seeming  inhumanity  of  the  system  is 
offset  by  the  fact  that,  until  a  man  has  tripled  his  output, 
his  pay  is  actually  higher  than  under  the  Halsey  plan. 
It  thus  combines  a  high  reward  for  the  man  who  by  his 
industry  doubles  the  output,  with  a  positive  though 
somewhat  elastic  stopping  of  the  upward  spurt  of  wages 
in  the  case  of  a  man  who  has  found  a  "  soft  snap." 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  GENESIS  OF  THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MAN- 
AGEMENT 

THE  preceding  chapter  may  lay  a  double  claim  to  having 
'prepared  the  way  for  the  treatment  in  this  of  the  genesis 
of  scientific  management. 

In  the  first  place,  its  description  of  the  faults  of  the 
ordinary  methods  of  wage  payment,  and  of  the  efforts  of 
Towne  and  Halsey  to  introduce  worthier  systems,  has 
yielded  a  stock  of  information  regarding  the  labor  situa- 
tion, without  which,  or  some  similar  explanation,  we  could 
not  understand  the  design  in  scientific  management. 

The  other,  more  important,  consequence  of  the  last  chap- 
ter's review  is  the  fact  that  only  after  such  a  survey  could 
one  appreciate  the  unique  character  of  the  new  movement. 
It  will  be  this  knowledge  of  the  plans  of  the  earlier  builders^ 
which  will  enable  us  to  decide  whether  scientific  manage-] 
ment  is  to  be  regarded  as  the  last  stone  in  an  edifice  longi 
in  process  of  construction ;  or  whether  it  is  indeed  a  growth! 
for  which  there  has  been  no  earlier  counterpart  either  inl 
Europe   or   America.      That    scientific    management    falls! 
rather  under  the  latter  classification,  that  it  is  a  system! 
whose  methods  are  more  or  less  different  from  anything! 
that  has  gone  before,  will  be  among  the  implications  of  the! 
present  chapter  on  the   development  of   its    fundamental} 
principles. 

327]  53 

\ 
\ 


54  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [328 

I.    THE  FIRST  SCIENTIFIC   MANAGEMENT 

The  first  systematic  presentation  of  what  is  properly 
called  scientific  management  occurred  in  igofi.  when  Fred- 
erick W.  Taylor  read  before  the  American  Society  of 
Mechanical  Engineers  a  paper  entitled  "A  Pieces-Rate  SJLS- 
tem."  *  Scientific  management  had  in  fact  beeen  invented 
and  put  into  practice  some  ten  or  fifteen  years  before  1895. 
But  inasmuch  as  from  those  earlier  days  no  full  statement 
of  the  principles  has  come  down  to  us,  we  will  not  try  to 
subdivide  the  system's  development  into  minor  periods,  but 
will  regard  as  a  single  epoch  the  years  before  1895,  and 
present  as  the  initial  philosophy  of  the  system  the  prin- 
ciples summed  up  by  Taylor  in  the  above-mentioned  paper.2 

An  examination  of  "A  Piece-Rate  System  "  shows  that 
the  great  object  in  establishing  scientific  management  was 
to  solve-the  wages >  problerp.  The  nature  of  this  problem  is 
so  well  understood  that  a  grasp  of  Taylor's  point  of  view 
towards  it  should  be  conveyed  by  a  mere  reference  to  his 
two  main  arguments :  In  the  first  place,  he  says  that  under 
the  day-work  system  the  men  soon  conclude  that  there  is 
no  profit  to  them  in  working  hard;  secondly,  he  extends 
his  indictment  to  piece-work,  and  charges  that  under  the 
latter  the  desire  of  the  men  to  stave  off  cuts  leads  to  the 
almost  equally  serious  evil  of  restricted  output.  Taylor's 
method  of  attacking  the  wages  problem  consisted  in  an 

1  Transactions,  vol.  xvi. 

2  As  the  first  steps  toward  the  development  of  scientific  management 
were  taken  about  1880,  and  some  of  its  most  vital  features  were  in 
operation   as   early   as    1883,   scientific  management   goes   back   to   an 
earlier  date  than  either  Towne's  gain-sharing  or   Halsey's  premium 
plan.    For  many  years,  however,   few  persons  knew  of  Taylor's  ac- 
tivities, so  that  the  engineers  who  listened  to  his  paper  of  1895  thought 
of   the    system    therein    outlined    as    the    most    recent    of    the    three. 
Halsey,  for  one,  was  until  that  time  unacquainted  with  Taylor's  main 
ideas,  as  witness  his  statements,  Transactions,  vol.  xvi,  pp.  884,  886. 


329] 


GENESIS  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 


improvement  of  piece-work  by  virtue  of  which  rate-cutting 
was  to  be  eliminated. 

The  originality  in  Taylor's  scheme  consisted,  however, 
neither  in  his  view  of  the  problem,  nor  in  his  singling  out 
of  rate-cutting  as  a  target  for  reform.  It  was  when  he, 
ojjfered  Ms-specific  proposal  as  to  how  rate-cutting-  might 
hal  the  c_Qnstmrf"i™1  r>f  VnVnwn  unique, 


Up  to  the  time  of  the  reading  of  the  paper  under 
study,  the  solution  of  the  rate-cutting  problem  which  had 
attracted  most  attention  was  that  which  has  been  described 
under  the  name  of  the  premium  plan.  The  inyjgtfnr  of  the 
premium  plan  had 


lav injyiving-  to  the  workman  only  a  fraction  of  the  value 
resulting  f ran  h1'*  speeding  up.  Taylor's  ide?L  was  qtiii£ 
dij-Ferent  He  argiied-that  if  the. management  merely  knejv 
how  longjt  should  take  a  man  working  at  his  best  to  rom,- 
Jolt — that  informajjon  jilone_would  eliminate  the 
y  pf  rntting-ra±£su  For  th£_  management  could 
then  so  fixjhe  rates Jnthe  first  place  tnat J^J^gflJ^^^  j^ 
compelledto  do ^good  day's  work  jn_order  to  make  reasoji- 
able  wages;  and  further — since  all  would  have  to  do  their 
best  to  make  Jair_earniiigs===scL^^ 
anj  effort  .attain  to  an  excessive  income.  In  short,  an 
exact, _?£i^n-ti^  dp_±prminatinn  of  thg  nir>y1'rniirn  ^p^^d  ^ 
which_jwprk_can-be-dono  is.  accordiag  to  Taylor,  the  means 
to  be  invoked  for^olving  the jvages^problerm.J 

Now,  it  was  precisely  because  Halsey  liad  denied  the 
possibility  of  obtaining  such  data  that  that  leader  among 
engineers  had  gone  to  the  trouble  of  inventing  his  premium 
system.  Taylor's  proposal,  therefore,  requires  backing  up 
in  the  shape  of  practical  suggestions  as  to  how  his  records 
may  be  obtained.  Tk^^JiasK  proposition  Taylor  discusses  I 
under  the  capttian..i>f  elementary  rate-il^incj,  a  term  which  \ 
has  since  begrudisglaced  by  the  broadband  more  sugges-  I 


56  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [330 

a.  Elementary  Time  Study 

As  compared  with  the  methods  usually  employed  in  tim- 
ing workmen,  the  unique  characteristic  of  elementary  time 
sjudy  is  this,  that  it  involves  an  .analysis  of.  a  Job  as  ~a 
whole  into  the  elementary  movements  of  man  and  machine, 
which  when  followed  the  one  byj:he  other  accomplish  the 
desired  end.  Thus,  if  the  job  be  the  planing  of  a  piece  of 
cast  iron,  the  following  analysis  might  be  made: 

ANALYSIS  BY  ELEMENTARY  TIME  STUDY  OF  THE  PLANING  OF  A  SURFACE 
ON  A  PIECE  OF  CAST  IRON  1 

Work  done  by  man  Minutes 

Lift  piece  from  floor  to  planer  table  

Level  and  set  work  true  on  table  

Put  on  stops  and  bolts 

Remove  stops  and  bolts   

Remove  piece  to  floor  

Clean   machine    

Work  done  by  machine 

Rough  off  cut  l/4  in.  thick,  4  feet  long,  2^2  ins.  wide 

Rough  off  cut  l/s  in.  thick,  3  feet  long,  12  ins.  wide,  etc 

Finish  cut  4  feet  long,  2^  ins.  wide  

Finish  cut  3  feet  long,  12  ins.  wide,  etc.  


Total   

Add per  cent  for  unavoidable  delays 

More  fully  stated,  the  first  siffp  in  elementary  jime 
is  to  divide^  a  task  into  its  simple  elemfflfe :  the  second  is 
to  .jot  down  opposite  each  _demggt~the-4u»Bbef--o£  crouds 
or  minutes^  which,  accord  ing  {Q  a  stop  watrh,  it  tal^es  a 
workman  to  perform  itj  the  thjrd  is  to  add  these__upit 
time^together  to  obtain  a  total  time j  and  the  fourth  is  to 
multiply  this  sum  by  a  factor  which  allowg__for  rest_and 
otjier  necessary  delays.  Ttg  _E££gpcg... is  ^11<s  fh^  nhr^inlnor 
of  a_standard  time,  not  through  an  unanalytical  observa- 

1  Taken    with     slight    alterations     from     "A     Piece-Rate     System," 
Transactions,  vol.  xvi,  p.  871. 


33 1  ]          GENESIS  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  57 

tion  of  the  job  as  a  whole,  but  rather  through  adding 
together  the  unit  times  required  for  the  individual  acts 
whose  aggregate  constitutes  the  job. 

But  the  question  arises,  Why  this  complicated  and  costly 
analysis?  Wherein  does  Taylor  attain  results  superior  to 
those  which  would  have  been  realized  through  the  simpler 
method  of  timing  jobs  as  a  whole? 

It  should  first  be  noted  that  elementary  time  study,  far 
from  being  as  tedious  and  expensive  as  it  at  first  glance 
appears,  is  in  reality  rather  simple.     The  reason  for  this  / 
simplicity  arises  from  the  fact  that  the  elements  into  which  I 
each  job  may  be  split  up  are  comparable  with  similar  ele-  1 
ments  which  enter  into  other  jobs.     Thus,  to   draw  an  J 
analogy,  the  jobs  in  any  one  trade  might  be  likened  to  the 
chemical  compounds.     Both  are  countless  in  their  number 
and  confusing  in  their  complexity.    But  just  as  the  chemist 
can  reduce  by  analysis  all  of  his  innumerable  compounds 
to  some  seventy  interchangeable  elements,  so  also  the  time- 
study  man,  on  splitting  up  his  thousands  of  factory  jobs 
into  their  component  elements,  finds  that  he  has  reduced 
them  all  to  a  comparatively  small  number  of  fundamental 
operations. 

To  be  specific,  a  glance  at  the  time-study  analysis  printed 
above  makes  it  evident  that  all  of  the  operations  classified 
as  "  work  done  by  man  "  must  appear  over  and  over  again 
in  hundreds  of  different  jobs.  Also,  although  any  one  of 
those  operations  classified  as  "  work  done  by  machine " 
varies  in  difficulty  for  different  jobs  according  to  whether 
their  specifications  call  for  the  cutting  away  of  a  larger 
or  smaller  amount  of  metal,  nevertheless  each  of  these 
operations  belongs  to  a  group  among  which  the  variations 
in  time  required  may  be  calculated  by  the  use  of  mathe- 
matical formulas. 

The  effect  of  these  facts  upon  the  mechanism  of  ele- 


58  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [332 

mentary  time  study  is  this :  they  make  it  possible  to  keep 
on  file  in  the  office,  records  showing  the  number  of  min- 
utes or  seconds  required  for  the  performance  of  each  work 
element  entering  into  the  jobs  in  the  shop;  then  when  a 
new  job  is  to  be  introduced,  it  is  only  necessary  to  divide 
it  into  its  elements,  copy  from  the  records  the  time  re- 
quired to  perform  each  operation,  add  these  unit  times 
together,  and  finally  multiply  by  the  usual  factor  of  safety, 
or  margin  for  rest  and  delays.  Gantt  states  that  during  a 
certain  month  ninety-two  per  cent  of  the  new  tasks  imposed 
in  one  shop  were  set  solely  from  data  in  the  office,  without 
the  rate-setter  entering  the  shop  at  all.  Indeed,  argue  the 
advocates  of  scientific  management,  is  not  this  system  much 
more  simple  than  the  old  way,  according  to  which  the 
foreman  was  accustomed  to  gather  records  from  a  number 
of  similar,  yet  non-identical  jobs,  and  then  guess  as  best 
he  could  as  to  how  long  the  new  job  should  take? 

The  above  explanation  answers  in  part  the  question  as 
to  the  why  and  wherefore  of  elementary  time  study — in  that 
it  indicates  that  the  system  is  simpler  in  operation  than  the 
methods  formerly  used.  As  closely  following  from  this 
simplicity  of  operation  should  be  mentioned  a  second  ad- 
vantage, one  which  is  realized  mainly  in  connection  with 
large  non-repetitive  work.  According  to  the  old  system, 
which  based  piece-rates  upon  past  records  covering  jobs 
as  a  whole,  it  would  be  practically  impossible  to  put  special 
work  on  a  piece-work  basis,  the  probability  being  that  the 
rate  so  estimated  would  be  wide  of  the  mark.  Elementary 
time  study,  by  offering  an  easy  method  for  the  accurate 
fixing  of  a  rate  before  the  job  has  been  begun,  permits  the 
extension  of  the  piece-rate  system  to  non-repetitive  work. 

The  main_reasan,_Jiowever,  for  theJnyjeJiUQrijof^lejTien- 
tary  time  study  jvas  not  the  simplification..^!  jate^sej;ting, 
nor  yetTthe  extension  of  the  piece-work  plan  Jo_ jion- 


333]  GENESIS  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 


repetitive  work.     The  chief  nfoj^f.j;  of  |1^  fippaHnn  wag  |^ 
f.  results.     Under  the  old  plan  of  meas- 


uring  a  complicated  task  as  one  unit,  the  workman^  who 
desired  to  deceive,  or  the  workman  who  was  ignoraru;  or 
unskilful,  was  likely  _  to  throw  in,  $  number  of  extra,  nper^- 
tions,  thus  leading  to  a  padding  of  the  time.1a  Indeed,  it 
was  this  padding  of  the  time  upon  the  occasion  of  the 
original  rate-setting  that  caused  the  subsequent  rate-cutting, 
and  hence  all  the  trouble.  Taylor  claims  that  the  mechan- 
ism of  elementary  time  study,  in  counting  every  operation 
in  the  work,  entirely  eliminates  the  possibility  of  padding. 
At  the  same  time,  the  system  also  enables  the  time-study 
man  to  judge  whether  his  subject  is  performing  the  actu- 
ally necessary  operations  at  a  standard  speed.  For  the 
elements  that  enter  into  the  job  are  in  most  cases  similar 
to  elements  with  which  the  expert  has  become  familiar  in 
studying  other  jobs.  Thus  he  comes  to  the  work  with 
fairly  definite  ideas  as  to  how  long  every  operation  should 
take,  and  if  the  time-study  man  and  the  workman  pit  their 
wits  against  one  another,  the  advantage  is  with  the  for- 
mer. The  system,  therefore,  assures  the  honesty  of  the 
workman  observed.  It  eliminates  the  uncertainty  creeping 
into  lump  measurements  as  to  whether  it  is  the  job  that  is 
being  timed  or  merely  a  series  of  "  fake  "  or  clumsy 
motions.  As  a  result,  it  provides  unimpeachable  data, 
which  may  be  used  as  a  basis  for  fixing  piece-rates  —  piece- 
rates  which  it  will  never  be  necessary  to  cut.  In  a  word, 
elementary  time  study,  according  to  the  advocates  of  scien- 
tific management,  is  the  key  to  the  solution  of  the  wages 
problem. 

b.  The  Differential  Rate 

The  determination  by  elementary  time  study  of  the  max- 
imum speed  at  which  work  can  be  done  is  not,  however, 


\ 


60  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [334 

a  complete  solution  of  the  wages  problem.  The  manage- 
ment must  further  find  some  means  to  induce  the  men  to 
actually  work  at  this  maximum  rate.  The  means  which 
Mr.  Taylor  warmly  advocated  until  many  years  after  his 
reading  of  "A  Piece-Rate  System  "  is  called  the  differen- 
tial rate.  /  By  the  differential  rate  is  meant  a  piece-rate 
scheme  by  which  a  low  rate  per  piece  is  paid  for  a  small 
output,  and  a  higher  rate  per  piece  for  a  larger  output. 
Its  effect  is  to  make  the  difference  between  the  pay  given 
to  a  good  worker  and  that  given  to  a  poor  worker  even 
greater  than  the  difference  in  their  respective  productiv- 
ities. Its  purpose  is  to  make  it  doubly  certain  that  the 
men  will  keep  up  to  the  maximum  rate  which  elementary 
time  study  has  established  as  possible  of  achievement. 

It  is  assumed  by  Mr.  Taylor  in  the  paper  under  consid- 
eration that  the  differential  rate  is  justified  by  the  fact 
that,  as  production  increases  in  volume,  the  amount  of 
overhead  expense  per  article  diminishes.  He  says  that 
many  manufacturers 

lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  taxes,  insurance,  depreciation,  rent, 
interest,  salaries,  office  expenses,  miscellaneous  libor,  sales  ex- 
penses, and  frequently  ihe  cost  of  power  (which  in  the  aggre- 
gate amount  to  as  much  as  wages  paid  to  workmen)  remain 
about  the  same  whether  the  output  of  the  establishment  is 
great  or  small.1 

But  when  they  only  understand  the  situation,  "  the  em- 
ployers can  well  afford  to  pay  higher  wages  per  piece  even 
permanently,  providing  each  man  and  machine  in  the 
establishment  turns  out  a  proportionately  larger  amount 
of  work."  2 

But  an  observation  of  what  Taylor  says  in  other  places 

•  Transactions,  vol.  xvi,  p.  867. 
3  Ibid.,  p.  867. 


335]          GENESIS  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  6 1 

shows  that  in  starting  the  differential-rate  system  he  had 
no  intention  of  actually  paying  workmen  higher  wages  per 
piece  than  they  had  received  before.  Thus  he  declares : 1 

Mr.  Halsey  is  in  error,  however,  in  his  assumption  that  my 
system  of  piece-work  involves  paying  a  higher  price  per  piece 
than  is  paid  under  the  ordinary  system.  On  the  contrary,  with 
the  differential  rate  the  price  will,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten, 
be  much  lower  than  would  be  paid  per  piece  either  under  the 
ordinary  piece-work  plan  or  on  day's  work. 

What  Mr.  Taylor  did  have  in  mind  was  the  opposite  policy  \  ] 
of  lowering  the  earnings  of  those  who  refused  to  come  up 
to  the  standard.  The  following  illustration  given  by  Mr. 
Taylor  in  his  paper  clearly  shows  this.  In  the  first  case  to 
which  the  differential  rate  was  applied,  the  turning  of  a 
standard  steel  forging,  the  price  on  days  when  less  than 
10  pieces  were  turned  out  was  fixed  at  25c.  each.  On  days 
when  10  pieces  or  more  were  turned  out,  the  price  was 
raised  to  35c.  each.  However,  the  important  fact  to  be 
noted  is  that  under  the  old  system  the  men  had  been  paid 
not  25c.,  or  even  35c.,  but  5oc.  a  piece.  Thus  the  differ- 
ential-rate system  amounted  here  to  a  general  cut  from  .. 
5oc.  to  35c. ;  the  differential  feature  was  merely  a  further 
provision  penalizing  those  who  did  not  accept  the  reduc- 
tion— those  who  failed  to  increase  correspondingly,  and 
more  than  correspondingly,  their  output.  "  Make  good  at 
35c.  or  you  will  receive  only  25c.,  in  which  case  you  might 
as  well  quit,"  was,  in  effect,  the  command.  Or,  to  put  it 
in  Taylor's  words,  "  the  lower  differential  rate  should  be 
fixed  at  a  figure  which  will  allow  the  workman  to  earn 
scarcely  an  ordinary  day's  pay  when  he  falls  off  from  his 
maximum  pace 2  .  .  .  [a  figure]  so  small  as  to  be  unat- 

1  Transactions,  vol.  xvi,  p.  887. 

2  Ibid.t  p.  873. 


62  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [336 

tractive  even  to  an  inferior  man."  1  The  250.  rate  in  the 
case  cited  was  therefore  not  supposed  to  be  an  adequate 
compensation,  but  rather  a  punishment,  the  entire  object 
of  the  system  being  simply  to  force  production  to  a  defi- 
nite predetermined  standard. 

Though  the  differential  rate  thus  punishes  those  who  fall 
short  of  the  standard,  at  the  same  time  it  rewards  those 
who  succeed  by  paying  them  a  wage  substantially  greater 
than  would  have  been  allowed  under  the  ordinary  piece- 
work system.  The  men  are  assured,  furthermore,  that  if 
they  keep  up  to  the  specified  pace,  their  rates  will  never  be 
cut,  and  that  they  may  continue  indefinitely  to  earn  a 
larger  Avage  than  is  usual  for  the  trade. 

Thus,  to  summarize,  a  combination  of  elementary  time 
study,  the  differential  rate,  and  a  policy  of  never  cutting 
rates,  means  first,  the  removal  of  restrictions  on  output 
due  to  fear  of  rate-cutting;  second,  the  forcing  of  produc- 
tion up  to  the  maximum,  because  of  the  introduction  of 
the  differential  rate;  and  third,  the  cheerful  maintenance 
of  this  speed  by  the  men,  due  to  the  fact  that  their  perma- 
nent earnings  are  sufficiently  above  the  average  to  make 
them  contented.  While — in  the  illustration  on  which  Mr. 
Taylor  dwells — the  speed  was  such  that  the  men  "  were 
obliged  to  work  at  their  maximum  pace  from  morning  to 
night,"  so  that  it  made  a  "  big  day's  work,  both  for  men 
and  machines,"  yet  "  from  the  day  they  first  turned  10 
pieces  to  the  present  time  [1895],  a  period  of  more  than 
ten  years,  the  men  who  understood  their  work  have  scarcely 
failed  a  single  day  to  turn  at  this  rate."  The  differen- 
tial rate  was  in  all  cases  accepted  willingly  by  the  men. 

Although  maximum  output  is  especially  desirable  where 
expensive  machinery  piles  up  overhead  expense,  it  is  evi- 

1  Transactions,  vol.  xvi,  p.  874.  * 


337J          GENESIS  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  63 

dent  from  the  above  explanations  that  the  differential  rate 
does  not  base  its  justification  upon  this  argument  alone; 
its  logic  might  be  applied  wherever  piece-rates  are  prac- 
ticable. 

c.  Conclusions 

In  the  first  stage  of  its  genesis,  scientific  management 
therefore  consisted  of  two  main  features:  first,  the  deter- 
mination by  elementary  time  study  of  what  constitutes  a 
day's  work;  and  second,  the  differential  rate. 

As  to*  the  relative  merits  of  the  two  principles,  Mr.  Tay- 
lor had  the  following  to  say :  1 

Of  the  two  devices  for  increasing  the  output  of  a  shop,  the  dif- 
ferential rate  and  the  scientific  rate-fixing  department,  the  latter 
is  by  far  the  more  important.  The  differential  rate  is  invalu- 
able at  the  start,  as  a  means  of  convincing  men  that  the  man- 
agement is  in  earnest  in  its  intention  of  paying  a  premium  for 
hard  work;  and  it  at  all  times  furnishes  the  best  means  of 
maintaining  the  top  notch  of  production;  but  when,  through 
its  application,  the  men  and  the  management  have  come  to 
appreciate  the  mutual  benefit  of  harmonious  cooperation  and 
respect  for  each  other's  rights,  it  ceases  to  be  an  absolute 
necessity.  On  the  other  hand,  the  rate-fixing  department,  for 
an  establishment  doing  a  large  variety  of  work,  becomes  abso- 
lutely indispensable.  The  longer  it  is  in  operation  the  more 
necessary  it  becomes. 

As  to  the  actual  value  of  elementary  time  study  and  the 
differential  rate,  Mr.  Taylor  claimed  that  they  had  been 
in  successful  operation  for  the  preceding  ten  years.  He 
summarized  as  follows  the  typical  results: 

1  Transactions,  loc.  cit.,  p.  875. 


64  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [338 

TABLE   SHOWING   SUPERIORITY  OF  DIFFERENTIAL  RATE  OVER   ORDINARY 
PIECE- WORK  FROM  THE  VIEWPOINT  BOTH  OF  THE  MANAGEMENT 

AND  THE  MEN  L 

Ordinary  Piece-Work  Differential  Rate 

(5  pieces  at  500.  each)  (10  pieces  at  35c.  each) 

Wages $2.50  Wages $3.50 

Machine  cost 3.37  Machine  cost 3.37 


Total  cost  per  day 5.87  Total  cost  per  day 6.87 

Cost  per  piece $1.17  Cost  per  piece $  .69 

Thus  Mr.  Taylor  regarded  as  typical  an  increase  in  pro- 
duction of  100  per  cent,  an  increase  in  wages  of  40  per 
cent,  and  a  reduction  in  cost  of  41  per  cent. 

A  word  now  as  to  the  distinction  between  the  points 
of  view  of  Towne  and  Halsey  and  of  Taylor.  The  most 
conspicuous  respect  in  which  Mr.  Taylor  differed  from 
these  gentlemen  was  in  his  confidence  in  the  management's 
ability  to  gain  an  intimate  knowledge  as  to  the  details  of 
work.  Towne  and  Halsey  conceived  improvement  in  in- 
dustry as  being  of  very  slow  growth.  They  thought  that 
it  must  necessarily  take  a  long  time  for  the  methods  of 
work  to  be  brought  to  perfection;  that  for  many  years 
there  might  be  a  gradual  increase  in  speed  as  the  workmen 
would  discover  short  cuts  that  would  reduce  the  time. 
Taylor,  on  the  contrary,  boldly  proposes  that  the  manage- 
ment determine  absolutely  and  without  any  room  for  doubt 
just  how  long  it  should  take  to  do  work,  now  and  for  all 
the  future.  When  Taylor  has  once  completed  his  investi- 
gations, production  is  supposed  to  be  forced  up  to  the 
maximum  at  one  leap.  There  is  to  be  no  subsequent  im- 
provement extending  over  a  course  of  years.  Or  if  there 
is,  it  is  not  important  enough  to  enter  into  the  calculations. 
Far  from  being  possessed  by  that  fear  of  making  a  mistake 
in  fixing  the  rates,  which  caused  Towne  and  Halsey  to  pro- 

1  Adapted  from  Taylor's  table,  loc.  cit.,  p.  879. 


339]          GENESIS  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  65 

pose  to  divide  profits  between  management  and  men,  Tay- 
lor advocates,  in  the  differential  rate,  a  system  which  would 
magnify  instead  of  minimize  the  effect  of  mistakes.  Thus 
the  one  point  in  "A  Piece-Rate  System  "  which  is  most 
suggestive  of  the  future  development  of  scientific  manage- 
ment is  this,  that  the  management  is  supposed  to  know 
more  about  the  work  than  the  men  themselves — to-  know 
more  than  they  know  at  present,  and  more  than  they  can 
discover  in  the  future.1 

It  may  be  noted  that  the  hearers  of  Taylor's  paper,  in 
spite  of  the  author's  repeated  emphasis  on  elementary  time 
study,  were  at  the  time  more  interested  in  the  differential 
rate.  With  the  passage  of  years,  however,  the  tables  have 
been  somewhat  turned,  so  that,  although  Taylor  long 
continued  to  claim  some  merit  for  the  differential  rate,  his 
followers  soon  abandoned  that  part  of  scientific  manage- 
ment almost  altogether.  The  study  of  unit  times  now 
stands  as  the  single  basis  of  the  system.2 

2.    THE  SCOPE  OF  SCIENTIFIC   MANAGEMENT  ENLARGED 

Between  1895  and  1903  certain  fundamental  additions 
were  made  to  the  body  of  scientific-management  doctrine 

1  We  are  speaking  here  of  improvements  in  the  method  of  work,  the 
process,   tools,  and  equipment  remaining  the  ;same.     These  last  will, 
of  course,  frequently  be  changed.     But  the  process  having  been  deter- 
mined for  the  time  being  and  the  tools  and  material   conditions  of 
work  having  been  specified,  the  success  of  Mr.  Taylor's  system  depends 
upon  the  management's  discovering  at  the  outset  the  very  best  way 
in  which  the  tools,   etc.,  can  be  handled.     The  rate  must  stand  until 
there  is  another  change  in  conditions. 

2  Mr.  Taylor  had  never  heard  of  the  differential  rate  before  it  was 
invented  and  put  into  operation  by  himself  in  1884.     It  is,  however, 
essentially  the  same  thing  as  is  to  be  found  in  certain  French  indus- 
tries,  and  called  "  progressive  wages "  in   M.   Leroy-Beaulieu's  Essai 
sur  la  repartition  des  richesses.    This  should  not  detract  at  all  from 
Mr.  Taylor's  independent  discovery  and  application  of  the  principle 
to  American  industry. 


66  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [340 

and  practice;  one  returning  to  view  the  system's  progress 
in  the  latter  year  would  discover  that  the  old  features  had 
come  to  constitute  only  one  aspect  of  a  greatly  enlarged 
system.1  In  the  study  of  this  second  stage  of  development, 
the  most  important  source  is  the  re-statement  of  principles 
contained  in  "  Shop  Management,"  a  paper  read  by  Fred- 
erick W.  Taylor  in  June,  1903,  before  the  American  Soci- 
ety of  Mechanical  Engineers.2  In  "  Shop  Management," 
we  have  the  classic  of  scientific-management  literature,  a 
paper  which  both  sums  up  the  achievements  of  the  past 
and  marks  out  the  lines  along  which  were  to  occur  the 
chief  developments  of  the  future.  The  three  following 
divisions  will  discuss  the  three  principal  aspects  of  the 
completely  formulated  system. 

a.  The  First  Phase  of  Complete  Scientific  Management: 
Securing  the  Initiative  of  the  Workmen 

In  the  first  part  of  "  Shop  Management,"  one  meets 
with  those  devices  for  determining  maximum  output  and 
inducing  the  men  to  work  up  to  that  limit,  which  consti- 
tuted the  one  theme  of  "A  Piece-Rate  System."  Such 
attempts  to  secure  the  initiative  of  the  workmen  may  now 
be  classified  as  simply  the  first  phase  of  the  enlarged  system. 
Before  dismissing  this  aspect  of  the  subject  it  will  only  be 
necessary  to  add  such  details  as  will  bring  the  story  down 
to  the  year  1903. 

The  first  new  point  brought  out  in  "  Shop  Management  " 
consists  in  the  announcement  that  the  great  success  of  the 
system  is  due  to  the  passing  by  of  ordinary  workmen  and 
the  employment  of  unusual  men  only.  The  reason  why 

JThe  development  of  1895-1903  included  the  advances  made  at 
Bethlehem  and  the  work  of  Sanford  E.  Thompson  in  reorganizing 
the  building  trades. 

2  Transactions,  -vol.  xxiv. 


34I  ]          GENESIS  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

Taylor's  men  could  accomplish  so  much  more  than  those  in  ^ 
other  shops  was  because  he  had  taken  sufficient  pa'ins,  and 
offered  high  enough  wages  to  draw  to  him  superior  work- 
men— men  who  were  so  constituted  mentally  and  physically 
that  they  could  maintain  a  very  rapid  pace.  "The  possibility 
of  coupling  high  wages  with  a  low  labor  cost  rests  mainly 
upon  the  enormous  difference  between  the  amount  of  work 
which  a  first-classman  can  do  under  favorable  circum- 

-     I,    - II 

stances  andthe  work  which  is  actually  done  by  the  average 
man."  *  In  most  cases  first-class  men  can  do  "from  two 
to  four  times  as  much  as  is  done  on  an  average." 

A  second  conspicuous  feature  of  "  Shop  Management  " 
is  the  relatively  lighter  stress  now  laid  upon  the  differen- 
tial rate.  The  differential  rate  is  still  recommended  as  the 
simplest  and  most  forceful  way  of  controlling  the  labor 
situation.  But  as  more  convenient  in  some  circumstances 
is  mentioned  Mr.  Gantt's  device,  invented  two  years  earlier, 
known  as  "Task  Work  with  a  Bonus."  We  may  note 
that  the  recommendation  of  both  of  these  systems  is  based 
on  the  fact  that  each  in  its  own  way  causes  the  men  to  re- 
ceive automatically  and  daily  either  an  extra  reward  in 
case  of  complete  success,  or  a  distinct  loss  in  case  they  fall 
off  even  a  little.  In  some  cases,  it  is  stated,  day-work  or 
straight  piece-work  may  be  coupled  with  elementary  time 
study  and  made  to  achieve  excellent  results.  Thus  the  con- 
clusion may  be  drawn  from  Mr.  Taylor's  discussion  that 
the  precise  wage  system  has  now  become  comparatively 
unimportant,  and  depends  for  its  justification  largely  upon 
the  circumstances  of  the  case.  The  only  important  con- 
sideration is  to  adopt  some  means  by  which  extra  high  ' 
wages  are  offered  for  extra  hard  work. 

One  other  observation:    The  precision  with  which  Tay- 

1P.  1345- 


68  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [342 

lor  was  accustomed  to  analyze  human  nature  is  well  illus- 
trated by  the  following  quotation,  taken  from  his  advice 
as  to  how  great,  under  varying  circumstances,  a  workman's 
extra  reward  should  be : i 

The  writer  has  found,  for  example,  after  making  many  mis- 
takes above  and  below  the  proper  mark,  that  to  get  the  maxi- 
mum output  for  ordinary  shop  work  requiring  neither  special 
brains,  very  close  application,  skill,  nor  extra  hard  work,  .  .  . 
it  is  necessary  to  pay  about  30  per  cent  more  than  the  average. 
For  ordinary  day  labor  requiring  little  brains  or  special  skill, 
but  calling  for  strength,  severe  bodily  exertion  and  fatigue,  it  is 
necessary  to  pay  from  50  per  cent  to  60  per  cent  above  the 
average.  For  work  requiring  especial  skill  or  brains,  coupled 
with  close  application  but  without  severe  bodily  exertion,  such 
as  the  more  difficult  and  delicate  machinist's  work,  from  70 
per  cent  to  80  per  cent  beyond  the  average.  And  for  work 
requiring  skill,  brains,  close  application,  strength  and  severe 
bodily  exertion,  such,  for  instance,  as  that  involved  in  run- 
ning a  well  run  steam  hammer  doing  miscellaneous  work,  from 
80  per  cent  to  100  per  cent  beyond  the  average. 

Outside  of  the  above-noted  explanations,  and  a  stock  of 
new  illustrative  material,  "Shop  Management's "  treat- 
ment of  the  phase  of  scientific  management  which  has  to 
do  with  the  securing  of  the  initiative  of  the  workmen  is 
essentially  the  same  as  that  presented  eight  years  before. 
The  starting-point  of  the  system  is  still  the  determination 
of  a  "  standard  time,"  or  "  quickest  time,"  by  the  study 
of  "  unit  times."  The  manner  in  which  the  final  results 
are  assured  is  indicated  by  the  capitalized  mottoes,  "A 
LARGE  DAILY  TASK,"  "  HIGH^  PAY  JFOR  SUCCESS,"  and 
"  Loss  IN  CASE  OF  FAILURE."  (The  significance  of  an- 
other motto,  "  STANDARD  CONDITIONS,"  is  bound  up  more 

1P.  1346. 


343]          GENESIS  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  69 

with  the  second  than  with  the  first  aspect  of  scientific 
management. ) 

b.  The  Second  Phase  of  Complete  Scientific  Management: 

Improving  Methods  of  Work 

The  second  group  of  principles  contained  in  "  Shop 
Management "  do  not  appear  all  in  one  place,  but  are  scat- 
tered, for  the  most  part,  through  the  latter  half  of  the 
paper.  They  have  to  do,  not  with  drawing  more  effort 
from  the  men,  but  with  introducing  more  efficient  methods 
of  work.  The  manner  in  which  this,  new  field  was  entered 
will  be  the  topic  of  discussion  in  the  following  half  a  dozen 
sections.  The  leading  principles  will  be  stated  and  illus- 
trated therein — as  nearly  as  can  be,  in  the  order  of  their 
respective  importance. 

(i)  Standardization  of  Tools  and  Equipment 
The  original  reason  for  the  infusion  of  standardization 
into  scientific  management  was  a  demand  for  it  on  the  part 
of  scientific  rate-fixing.  It  was  early  realized  that  it  might 
well  happen  that  a  job  which  time-study  analysis  had  found 
could  be  done  in  one  hour  would  actually  take  various 
workmen  times  ranging  from  one  hour,  to  an  hour  and  a 
half,  or  two  hours — for  no  other  reason  than  that  their  re- 
spective machines  were  in  different  conditions.  It  was  to 
avoid  this  unevenness  of  earnings,  which  would  brand  the 
system  as  ridiculous  and  unfair,  even  more  than  to  secure 
the  advantage  of  better  equipment  for  its  own  sake,  that 
the  question  of  standardization  of  tools  and  equipment  was. 
first  taken  up. 

It  is  uniformity  that  is  required.  Better  have  them  [the  tools] 
uniformly  seconcT class  than  mainly  first  with  some  second  and 
some  third  class  thrown  in  at  random.  In  the  latter  case  the 
workmen  will  almost  always  adopt  the  pace  which  conforms 
to  the  third  class  instead  of  the  first  or  second.1 

1  Transactions,  loc.  cit.,  p.  1407. 


I 


70  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [344 

Thus  standardization  was  originally  regarded  as  merely 
a  preliminary  step — a  means  to  the  attainment  of  the  more 
important  end  of  securing  maximum  effort  on  the  part  of 
the  workmen.  As  early  as  1895,  however,  it  was  recog- 
nized that  the  means  was  in  itself  of  considerable  value. 
Thus  in  "A  Piece-Rate  System,"  Mr.  Taylor  says1  that 
"  not  the  least  of  the  benefits  of  elementary  rate-fixing  are 
the  indirect  results."  He  then  refers  to  the  great  benefits 
vrhich  were  derived  at  the  plant  of  the  Midvale  Steel  Com- 
pany because  elementary  time  study  enabled  the  manage- 
ment to  correct  faults  and  make  improvements  in  machine 
construction.  The  study  "developed  the  fact  that  they  [the 
machines]  were  none  of  them  designed  and  speeded  so  as 
to  cut  steel  to  the  best  advantage."  The  company  has 
accordingly  "demanded  alterations  from  the  standard  in 
almost  every  machine  which  they  have  bought  during  the 
past  eight  years,"  and  has  itself  superintended  "  the  de- 
sign of  many  special  tools  which  would  not  have  been 
thought  of  had  it  not  been  for  elementary  rate-fixing." 
Not  only  has  there  been  improvement  due  to  the  study  of 
machines — 

But  what  is,  perhaps,  of  more  importance  still,  the  rate-fixing 
department  has  shown  the  necessity  of  carefully  systematizing 
all  of  the  small  details  in  the  running  of  each  shop ;  such  as  the 
care  of  belting,  the  proper  shape  for  cutting  tools,  and  the 
dressing,  grinding,  and  issuing  same,  oiling  machines,  issuing 
orders  for  work,  obtaining  accurate  labor  and  material  returns, 
and  a  host  of  other  minor  methods  and  processes.  These  de- 
tails, which  are  usually  regarded  as  of  comparatively  small  im- 
portance, and  many  of  which  are  left  to  the  individual  judgment 
of  the  foreman  and  workmen,  are  shown  by  the  rate-fixing  de- 
partment to  be  of  paramount  importance  in  obtaining  the 

1  The  quotations   in   this   paragraph   are  taken    from    Transactions, 
vol.  xvi,  p.  877. 


345]          GENESIS  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  ^ 

maximum  output,  and  to  require  the  most  careful  and  syste- 
matic study  and  attention  in  order  to  insure  uniformity  and  a 
fair  and  equal  chance  for  each  workman. 

These  improvements  in  machines  and  in  shop  routine  are 
a  joint  product  of  the  effort  to  establish  standards  for  tools 
and  equipment,  and  the  desire  to  discover  the  quickest  time 
in  which  work  can  be  done. 

Thus  there  is  in  "A  Piece-Rate  System"  one  page  which 
forcefully  enumerates  the  incidental  advantages  rising  from 
standardization  —  a  passage  which  clearly  anticipates  the 
prominence  to  be  given  to  the  subject  later  in  "  Shop  Man- 
agement." This  fact  makes  it  a  little  hard  to  tell  when 
scientific  management  was  enlarged  to  cover  standardiza- 
tion— the  same  was  utilized  from  the  beginning.  If,  how- 
ever, we  make  our  decision  as  to  when  different  features 
were  added  to  scientific  management  depend  upon  the  time 
when  they  assumed  a  real  place  in  the  thought  of  the  lead- 
ers, we  may  decide  that  standardization  properly  fitted  into 
the  system  of  1903,  but  not  into  that  of  1895. 

Standardization  is  looked  upon  to-day  as  important,  not 
only  because  it  means  uniformity  of  working  conditions, 
but  also  because  it  means  that  all  tools  and  all  working 
conditions  will  be  of  the  best. 

The  origin  of  the  other  features  next  to  be  considered 
need  not  be  discussed  as  critically  as  was  necessary  in  the 
case  of  standardization.  They  find  no  expression  in  "A 
Piece-Rate  System."  Though  doubtless  most  of  them  were 
latent  in  the  system  in  1895,  only  in  "  Shop  Management," 
and  indeed  not  fully  then,  were  they  revealed  as  one  of  the 
great  major  ends  of  scientific  management. 

(2)  Routing  and  Scheduling 
By  routing  is  meant  the  designation  of  the  machine  or     I 

JL  • 


72  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [346 

man  to  which  work  is  to  be  sent.  Two  sorts  of  advantages 
may  be  sought.  In  some  cases  the  end  in  view  is  to 
choose  the  machines,  or  perhaps  arrange  them,  so  that  the 
work  will  not  need  to  be  moved  an  unnecessary  distance. 
In  other  cases,  not  the  distances,  but  the  machines  them- 
selves, or  their  operators,  are  the  objects  of  study.  Thus 
the  chief  in  charge  o>f  an  efficient  routing  system  takes  care 
that  the  machines  and  men  always  have  the  right  amount 
of  work  on  hand;  which  means,  among  other  things,  that 
the  loss  of  time  through  waiting  for  a  job  is  eliminated. 
He  also  endeavors  to  send  the  work  to  those  machines  and 
men  that  are  best  fitted  for  it.  Finally,  rush  jobs  are  dis- 
patched first,  and  a  system  is  arranged  by  which  large 
orders  are  not  kept  waiting  because  of  negligence  in  com- 
pleting some  of  their  parts.  Scheduling  is  routing  as  re- 
gards the  time  aspect.  By  routing,  it  is  decided  where  the 
work  shall  be  done;  by  scheduling,  when.  Thus  they  are 
merely  the  two  sides  of  the  same  thing. 

From  the  time  when  the  first  factory  was  opened  until  the 
present  day,  it  has  of  course  been  not  the  least  of  the  duties 
of  the  management  to  decide  when  and  by  whom  the  work 
shall  be  done.  Routing  and  scheduling  are  here  classified  as 
a  part  of  scientific  management  only  because  in  connection 
with  this  system  they  have  been  carried  to  a  remarkable  de- 
gree of  refinement.  The  reason  for  this  unusual  development 
is,  of  course,  due  to  the  fact  that  the  workmen,  to  make 
their  proper  pay,  are  obliged  to  apply  themselves  vigorously 
and  constantly,  a  situation  which  makes  it  of  the  utmost 
importance  that  the  work  pass  through  the  shop  in  so 
orderly  a  manner  that  the  men  may  be  employed  without 
interruption.  But  the  mechanism  of  routing  once  having 
for  this  reason  been  put  into  operation,  scientific  manage- 
ment has  seized  the  opportunity  afforded,  to  accomplish 
savings  along  all  the  broader  lines  mentioned  above.  It  is 


347]          GENESIS  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  73 

explained  in  "  Shop  Management  "  *  that  there  is  a  special 
"Order  of  Work  or  Route  Clerk,"  who  lays  out  "the 
exact  route  which  each  piece  of  work  is  to  travel  through 
the  shop  from  machine  to  machine/'  and  who  daily  writes 
out  instructions  which  "  constitute  the  chief  means  for 
directing  the  workmen  [as  well  as  the  bosses]  in  this  par- 
ticular function."  The  result  is  shown  not  only  in  the 
earnings  of  the  men,  but  also  in  the  prompt  and  economical 
completion  of  the  work. 

It  may  be  noted  in  this  connection  that  routing  and 
scheduling,  though  an  essential  part  of  scientific  manage- 
ment at  the  time  when  "  Shop  Management "  was  written, 
were  later  to  receive  a  much  fuller  development — as  in  the 
plant  of  the  Tabor  Manufacturing  Company.  Routing  and 
scheduling  now  constitute  one  of  the  most  profitable  fea- 
tures of  the  system. 

(3)  Instruction  Cards 

An  instruction  card  is  a  set  of  directions  for  the  per- 
formance of  a  special  piece  of  work.  To  many  this  system 
seems  supervision  gone  mad.  What  possible  saving  can 
there  be  in  one  man's  anticipating  every  act  on  the  part  of 
another  by  issuing  a  written  order!  The  key  to  an  under- 
standing of  the  purpose  of  the  instruction  card  is  to  be 
found  in  the  peculiar  conditions  existing  in  a  shop  given 
over  to  the  cutting  of  metals.  It  was  here  that  the  system 
originated,  and  it  is  of  such  a  shop  that  Mr.  Taylor  and 
others  are  thinking  when  they  speak  of  the  instruction  card. 

The  story  of  the  situation  in  metal-cutting  shops,  of  the 
long  effort  of  Taylor  and  others  to  facilitate  production 
therein,  and  of  their  final  triumph — this  is  referred  to  and 
briefly  treated  in  "  Shop  Management."  For  a  sketch  of 
the  movement,  however,  it  is  advisable  to  rely  on  the  far 

1  Transactions,  vol.  xxiv,  p.  1393. 


74  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [348 

better  account  given  three  years  later  in  Taylor's  paper, 
"On  the  Art  of  Cutting  Metals"  * — a  treatise  which  was  at 
the  time  appraised  by  the  editor  of  the  Transactions  as  prob- 
ably the  most  remarkable  contribution  ever  received  by  the 
American  Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers. 

The  gist  of  the  problem  which  confronts  a  workman  in 
charge  of  a  metal-cutting  machine  is  thus  concisely  put  in 
the  last-named  paper: 

There  are  three  questions  which  must  be  answered  each  day  in 
every  machine  shop  by  every  machinist  who  is  running  a  metal- 
cutting  machine,  such  as  a  lathe,  planer,  drill  press,  milling  ma- 
chine, etc.,  namely : 

(a)  What  tool  shall  I  use? 

(b)  What  cutting  speed 2  shall  I  use? 

(c)  What  feed  shall  I  use? 

This  problem,  although  one  to  which  the  machinist  has  per- 
haps devoted  many  years,  is  quite  impossible  of  accurate 
solution  by  his  judgment  alone.  For  a  choice  of  the  most 
efficient  speed  and  feed  is  not  the  same  from  job  to  job; 
but  its  determination  is  almost  infinitely  complicated  by  the 
fact  that  it  depends  upon  twelve  variables.  There  must  be 
taken  into  account  (a)  the  quality  of  the  metal  which  is 
to  be  cut,  (b)  the  diameter  of  the  work,  (c)  the  depth  of 
cut,  (d)  the  thickness  of  the  shaving,  and  so  on  through 
(e),  (f),  (g),  and  five  others.  The  desire  to  find  a  scien- 
tific way  of  solving  this  hitherto  unsatisfactorily  ap- 
proached question  led  Taylor,  in  1880,  to  start  an  investi- 
gation along  these  lines,  as  a  part  of  his  managerial  duties. 

1  Transactions,  vol.  xxviii,  p.  31. 

'Taking  a  lathe  for  illustration,  the  speed  is  the  rate  at  which  the 
surface  to  be  dressed  is  brought  into  contact  with  the  tool,  while  the 
feed  is  the  rate  at  which  the  tool — or  the  work — is  moved  laterally  so 
that  the  tool  may  come  in  contact  with  fresh  areas  of  surface. 


349]          GENESIS  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  75 

The  task  proved  unexpectedly  severe.  Mr.  Taylor 
thought  he  would  complete  it  in  six  months,  but  instead  it 
took  twenty-six  years.  More  than  800,000  pounds  of  iron 
and  steel  were  cut  up  into  chips,  and  through  the  aid  of 
certain  great  corporations  between  $150,000  and  $200,000 
was  spent  on  the  experiments.  Nevertheless  the  problem 
was  solved,  and  most  important  of  all,  the  scientific  for- 
mulae obtained  were  embodied  between  1899  and  1902  in 
slide  rules,  "  which  are  so  simple  that  they  enable  an  ordi- 
nary workman  to  make  practical  and  rapid  every-day  use 
in  the  shop  of  all  the  laws  and  formulae  deduced  from 
[the]  experiments." 

As  a  matter  of  shop  practice,  however,  it  is  much  easier 
to  have  this  clerical  work  attended  to  in  the  office,  and  it 
is  for  precisely  this  reason  that  the  instruction  card  was 
introduced.  Blanks  similar  to  the  one  shown  below  are 
filled  out  in  the  office,  or  as  we  may  now  call  it  the  "  plan- 
ning department,"  and  then  sent  to  the  men  on  the  machines. 
They  tell  the  workmen  briefly 

the  general  and  detail  drawing  to  refer  to,  the  piece  number 
and  the  cost  order  number  to  charge  the  work  to,  the  special 
jigs,  fixtures,  or  tools  to  use,  where  to  start  each  cut,  the  exact 
depth  of  each  cut,  and  how  many  cuts  to  take,  the  speed  and 
feed  to  be  used  for  each  cut,  and  the  time  within  which  each 
operation  must  be  finished,1 

as  well  as  information  regarding  the  rate  of  pay.  Care  is 
also  taken  to  suggest  such  an  order  for  the  performance  of 
the  different  operations  as  will  minimize  unnecessary  ad- 
justments of  the  machine,  and  facilitate  the  handling  of 
the  work. 

1  Transactions,  vol.  xxiv,  p.  1393. 


76 


SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 


[350 


A  BLANK 
TIRE-TURNING  INSTRUCTION  CARD1 

Machine  shop 

Order  for  Tires. 

Do  work  on  Tire  No 

as  follows  and  per  blueprint 


[i]    [2]    [3] 


[5]    16]    [7] 


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Q 

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be 

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Q 

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£ 

<u 
"rt 
« 

Time  this  operation 
should  take. 

Surface  to  be  machined  

Set  tire  on  machine  ready  to  turn  

Rough  face  front  edge  

Finish  face  front  edge  . 

Rough  bore  front  

Finish  bore  front  

Rough  face  front  I    S.  C  

Cut  out  filled  

Rough  bore  front  I.  S.  F  

Rough  face  back  edge  

Finish  face  back  edge  

Finish  bore  back  

Rough  bore  back  

Rough  face  back  I.  S.  F  

Cut  out  filled  

Cut  recess  

Rough  turn  thread  

Finish  turn  thread  » 

Rough  turn  flange  

Finish  turn  flange  

Clean  fillet  of  flange  

Remove  tire  from  machine  and  clean 
face  plate         ..             

It  is  thus  seen  that  the  instruction  card  is  a  combination 
of  specifications  covering  the  work,  and  of  instructions  as 
to  methods.  Its  use  is  primarily  in  that  field  where  there 

1  Transactions,  vol.  xxiv,  p.  1382. 


35 1  ]          GENESIS  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  jj 

is  associated  with  manual  work  a  large  and  rather  abstruse 
technical  element,  and  especially  where  inefficiency  would 
not  only  lead  to  a  high  wage  cost,  but  also  involve  waste 
in  the  operation  of  expensive  machine  processes.  It  fre- 
quently represents  the  results  of  years  of  scientific  study 
put  in  the  most  convenient  form  for  the  use  of  the  work- 
men. If  the  card  be  for  special  work,  it  cannot,  of  course, 
go  into  small  details,  but  merely  gives  a  skeleton  of  the 
important  things  to  look  after  in  the  execution  of  the  task. 
Though  the  idea  of  the  instruction  card  has  been  ex- 
tended to  serve  various  other  purposes,  its  type  is  the  special 
card  described  above.  When  a  scientific-management  ex- 
pert speaks  of  an  "  instruction  card,"  he  is  not  thinking 
of  general  information  tabulated  for  permanent  reference 
— at  least  not  usually.  This  latter  device  could,  of  course, 
form  a  part  of  scientific  management;  but,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  it  has  never  received  emphasis. 

(4)  Motion  Study  * 

Shortly  after  the  beginning  of  the  Spanish  war  (1898), 
a  rise  in  the  price  of  pig  iron  led  the  Bethlehem  Steel  Com- 

1  Perhaps  the  most  interesting  illustration  of  motion  study  is  Gil- 
breth's  reorganization  of  bricklaying.  Striking,  also,  were  the  ex- 
tensive experiments  made  at  Bethlehem  covering  the  art  of  shoveling. 
The  first  of  these  tasks,  however,  was  not  undertaken  until  some 
years  after  "  Shop  Management "  was  written,  and  the  latter  was 
given  scanty  consideration  therein.  Indeed,  one  cannot  gather  a  very 
satisfactory  account  of  motion  study  entirely  from  literature  written 
as  early  as  1903.  Details  are  lacking;  perhaps  at  the  time  the  value 
of  the  principle  was  not  really  appreciated.  It  would  be  a  mistake, 
however,  to  pass  the  subject  of  motion  study  entirely  by  in  this  con- 
nection; for  it  was  in  fact  highly  developed  by  1903,  and  indeed  at 
many  points  almost  came  to  the  surface  of  "  Shop  Management."  We 
have  therefore  ventured  to  describe  an  undertaking  whose  results  are 
given  in  that  paper,  though  for  working  details  we  must  rely  almost 
altogether  on  Taylor's  later  Principles  of  Scientific  Management 
(1911). 


78  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

pany  to  sell,  and  to  prepare  to  load  on  cars,  eighty  thousand 
tons  of  pig  iron,  until  then  stored  in  small  piles  in  an  open 
field.  The  pig-iron  handlers  had  started  on  the  great  task 
at  an  average  rate  of  i2l/2  long  tons  per  man  per  day,  a 
rate  which  was,  "  on  the  whole,  about  as  fast  ...  as  it 
was  anywhere  else  at  that  time."  Then  it  was  that  Mr. 
Taylor  determined  to  apply  scientific  management ;  and,  by 
combining  an  offer  of  high  pay  for  success  with  careful 
selection  of  his  men  and  scientific  direction  as  to  the  way 
in  which  they  should  attack  their  work,  succeeded  in  in- 

*  creasing  the  average  achievement,  so  that  every  man  loaded, 
I  not  12*^,  but  47^2  long  tons  a  day.     These  phenomenal 

*  results  could   not   have  been  produced  by   motion   study 
alone;  but  that  it  was  a  necessary  factor,  the  following 
explanation  will  make  clear. 

In  the  field  of  heavy  laboring,  science's  opportunity  to 
help  the  workman  lies,  not  in  suggesting  a  system  of  deft 
or  ingenious  movements,  but  rather  in  minimizing  muscular 
strain — in  utilizing  human  energy  to  the  utmost.  When 
Mr.  Taylor  determined  to  increase  the  achievements  of 
pig-iron  handlers  at  Bethlehem,  he  dared  not  induce  them 
to  speed  up  as  they  themselves  might  choose;  he  foresaw 
that  they  would  start  in  with  a  rush,  and  stop  because  of 
fatigue  long  before  the  day's  task  was  performed.  It  was 
found,  however,  that  a  man  of  suitable  physique  could  in- 
crea,se  the  number  of  tons  handled  with  perfect  safety  pro- 
vided the  overseers  enforced  periods  of  rest  at  frequent 
intervals.  In  short,  this  guiding  principle  was  discovered : 
that  to  do  his  best,  a  first-class  laborer  carrying  pigs  weigh- 
ing 92  pounds  each  should  be  under  load  only  43  per  cent 
of  the  time.  The  "  science  "  of  handling  pig  iron,  there- 
fore, consisted  first  in  choosing  the  proper  men,  and  then 
in  making  them  rest  at  intervals  which  had  been  found  by 
careful  investigation  to  be  the  most  efficient ;  only  by  thus 


353]          GENESIS  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  jg 

regulating  the  expenditure  of  energy  could  the  47%  tons 
be  loaded  on  the  car. 

The  above  account  illustrates  two  of  the  chief  reasons 
why  the  management  is  sometimes  better  equipped  than  the 
workmen  to  plan  the  latter's  motions.  In  the  first  place, 
in  grappling  with  the  problem  of  pig-iron  handling,  the 
Bethlehem  management  was  able  to  employ  better  trained 
brains  than  were  prevalent  among  the  laborers.  That  the 
latter  would  have  been  utterly  incapable  of  finding  the  cor- 
rect solution  of  the  problem  is  evidenced  by  their  entire 
ignorance  of  the  very  concept  of  percentage.  In  the  second 
place,  the  highest  success  would  have  been  impossible  with- 
out the  appropriation  of  a  larger  amount  of  time  and 
money  than  any  one  individual  could  have  afforded. 

A  third  argument  for  the  introduction  of  motion  study 
by  the  management  finds  force  in  those  circumstances 
where  one  individual,  no  matter  how  able  or  learned,  could 
not  possibly  adopt  efficient  methods — because  he  is  work- 
ing in  cooperation  with  others  to  whose  habits  he  must 
conform.  A  good  example  of  this  is  presented  in  Gilbreth's 
reorganization  of  bricklaying. 

(5)  Selection  of  Workmen 

Incidental  reference  has  been  made  to  the  selection  of 
only  first-class  men  to  serve  as  pig-iron  handlers.  Mr. 
Taylor  explains  that  of  the  seventy-five  men  who  had  be- 
fore constituted  the  gang  at  Bethlehem,  only  one  out  of 
eight  was  physically  capable  of  maintaining  the  pace  set 
under  scientific  management. 

In  another  part  of  "  Shop  Management,"  there  is  de- 
scribed the  application  of  scientific  management  to  the  inr 
spection  of  bicycle  balls  in  the  works  of  the  Symonds  Roll- 
ing Machine  Company,  as  a  result  of  which  "  thirty-five 
girls  did  the  work  formerly  done  by  one  hundred  and 


80  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [354 

twenty."  *  Taylor  later  2  explained  that,  in  this  case,  "the 
one  element  which  did  more  than  all  of  the  others  was  the 
careful  selection  of  girls  with  quick  perception  to  replace 
those  whose  perceptions  were  slow." 

These  two  illustrations,  covering  widely  dissimilar  sorts 
of  work,  show  that  a  great  increase  in  efficiency  may  some- 
i  j  times  be  realized  through  selecting  from  the  countless  types 
''of  possible  workers  only  those  whose  mental  or  physical 
make-up  especially  adapts  them  for  the  work  at  hand.  The 
pace  for  such  a  selected  group  may  be  made  far  more 
rapid  than  would  be  otherwise  possible  —  without  doing 
anyone  an  injury. 

(6)  Supplies 

/     The  fundamental  object  of  scientific  management  being 
/to  permit  every  man  to   accomplish  the   full  amount  of 
/  work  of  which  he  is  capable,  the  system  consequently  takes 
j   great  pains  to  guard  against  a  lack  of  supplies.     As  soon 
as  an  order  is  received  requisitions  are  made  out  for  all 
the  materials  which  will  be  needed,  so  that  the  clerk  in 
charge  of  stores  may  have  ample  warning.     This  clerk 
keeps  a  balance  record  of  the  goods  actually  in  the  bins, 
minus  such  materials  as  have  been  reserved  for  the  filling 
of   requisitions.     He  has   set   for  him  a  minimum  limit. 
When  a  requisition  informs  him  that  there  are  coming 
through  the  shop,  orders  which  when  filled  will  reduce  the 
stock  below  this  limit,  he  at  once  notifies  the  purchasing 
agent  or  other  proper  party,  and  steps  are  taken  towards 
replenishment.     Of  far  greater  consequence  than  the  elimi- 
nation of  forced  waiting  on  the  part  of  the  men  is  the 
prevention,  through  this  system,  of  delays  in  the  filling  of 
.  orders. 

1  Transactions,  vol.  xxiv,  p.  1384. 

2  Principles  of  Scientific  Management  (1911),  p.  96. 


355]          GENESIS  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  gl 

Under  the  general  head  of  supplies  may  be  mentioned 
two  additional  features.  First,  the  shops  which  have  in- 
troduced scientific  management  are  proud  of  their  tool 
rooms.  Considerable  ingenuity  has  been  displayed  in  ar- 
ranging tools  in  a  space-economizing  order,  and  a  clever 
system  of  mnemonic  symbols  has  been  introduced  to  avoid 
confusion.  Every  tool  must  be  in  perfect  condition  when 
given  to  the  workman.  The  other  point  is  that  scientific 
management  takes  phenomenal  pains  to  look  after  all  those 
small  supplies  for  the  lack  of  which  high-priced  workmen 
are  often  compelled  to  delay  their  work.  Everything  that 
a  man  may  need  to  complete  a  job  is  brought  to  him  before 
the  task  is  begun. 

In  closing,  it  should  be  noted  that  the  several  features 
discussed  under  the  head  of  supplies,  although  mentioned 
in  "  Shop  Management,"  were  to  find  their  most  perfect 
development  later  in  the  plant  of  the  Tabor  Manufactur- 
ing Company. 

(7)  Conclusions 

The  above  sections  have  considered  the  ways  in  which 
scientific  management  has  gone  beyond  mere  task-setting 
and  striven  to  improve  the  methods  of  work. 

A  beginning  of  the  development  in  this  direction  was 
noted  in  the  system  as  presented  in  1895,  along  the  line 
of  standardization.  But  that  this  phase  was  not  then  re- 
garded as  of  very  great  consequence  is  shown  by  the  fol- 
lowing quotation : 1  "  The  above  result  [the  gain  from 
scientific  management]  was  mostly,  though  not  entirely, 
due  to  the  differential  rate.  The  superior  system  of  man- 
aging all  of  the  small  details  of  the  shop  counted  for  con- 
siderable." 

Credit  belongs  to  "  Shop  Management"  (1903)  for  the 

1  Taylor,  description  of  scientific  management  at  Midvale,  "  A  Piece- 
Rate  System,"  Transactions,  vol.  xvi,  p.  879. 


82  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [356 

main  announcement  of  the  entry  of  scientific  management 
into  the  field  of  directing  men.  There,  for  the  first  time,  the 
planning  of  work  was  given  prominence.  Nevertheless 
even  in  "  Shop  Management/'  we  found  that  several  im- 
portant efficiency  features  were  given  but  small  space. 

It  really  took  seven  years  more  for  the  full  significance 
of  the  new  phase  to  be  appreciated.  But  by  1910  it  had 
certainly  come  into  its  own;  in  that  year  Brandeis  went  so 
far  as  to  avow  that  the  essence  of  the  whole  system  is  in 
the  separation  of  planning  from  performing.^ 

The  question  as  to  whether  this  new  emphasis  is  a  proper 
one — whether  scientific  management  is  mainly  a  device  for 
drawing  effort  out  of  men,  or  rather  a  system  of  efficient 
factory  methods — this  important  question  will  be  treated 
critically  at  a  later  point. 

c.  The  Third  Phase  of  Complete  Scientific  Management: 

Organization 

The  reader  of  the  foregoing  must  have  been  impressed 
with  the  arduousness  of  the  labor  which  scientific  manage- 
ment encounters  in  each  of  its  two  great  fields.  To  accom- 
plish the  system's  first  end,  a  management  must  determine 
by  elaborate  analysis  the  exact  time  which  it  should  take 
to  perform  each  factory  job;  to  be  successful  from  the 
second  point  of  view,  it  must  undertake  a  thorough  study 

1This  shifting  in  emphasis  may  have  been  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
earlier  papers  were  written  primarily  for  engineers  and  manufacturers, 
while  the  later  statements  were  framed  for  the  general  public, — being 
part  of  a  program  to  popularize  the  new  system.  The  thought 
therefore  shifted  between  1903  and  1910  from  the  system's  selfish  as- 
pects to  those  more  widely  beneficial;  and  its  philosophy  was  revised, 
even  where  practice  remained  almost  unaltered. 

Quite  the  contrary  had  been  the  case  between  1895  and  1903.  There 
was  in  this  earlier  period  a  real  broadening  of  scope.  But  the  ad- 
vance in  presentation  attained  by  1903  was  behind,  rather  than  ahead 
of,  the  improvement  in  substance. 


357]          GENESIS  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  83 

of  the  efficiency  of  innumerable  details  of  factory  life. 
Moreover,  the  difficulty  of  the  task  is  increased  by  another 
consideration :  After  the  bosses  have  assigned  the  work  to 
the  men,  they  take  upon  themselves  the  further  duty  of 
seeing  that  the  goal  is  actually  attained;  that  is,  the  man- 
agement makes  itself  responsible  for  the  success  of  each 
workman — studies  the  causes  o£  each  individual's  failures 
and  discouragements,  and  is,  in  fact,  a  teacher,  ever  ready 
to  lend  a  helping  hand.  Considering  everything,  therefore, 
the  amount  of  direction  under  scientific  management  is 
often  several  times  as  great  as  under  ordinary  systems. 

The  assumption  by  the  directing  force  of  these  manifold 
duties  has  brought  it  about  that,  simultaneously  with  the 
appearance  of  the  first  two  phases  of  the  system,  the  man- 
agement has  been  compelled  to  develop  in  a  third  direction. 
Organization,  its  growth  and  adaptation  to  meet  the  strain 
imposed  upon  it,  becomes  the  topic  of  the  present  section. 

The  first  and  most  obvious  alteration  in  the  organization 
of  a  plant  consequent  upon  the  introduction  of  scientific 
management  is  the  establishment  of  a  planning  departmen^ 
This  change  is  significant  first  because  it  means  a  larger 
organization.  In  the  works  of  the  Tabor  Manufacturing 
Company,  for  instance,  before  the  introduction  of  scien- 
tific management,  the  number  of  men  whose  activity  cen- 
tered in  the  office  was  5,  as  against  105  employed  in  purely 
shop  work;  afterwards,  the  ratio  was  20  to  75.  The 
strength  of  the  management  per  one  hundred  men  in  the 
shop  was  thus  made  more  than  five  times  as  great.1 

But  the  change  in  organization  which  attends  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  planning  department  is  not  one  of  size  only. 
Reorganization  means  the  centralization  of  a  certain  type 

1  Evidence  Taken  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  the 
Matter  of  Proposed  Advances  in  Freight  Rates  by  Carriers  (1910), 
vol.  Iv,  p.  2660. 


84  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [358 

of  work  in  one  planning-room.  Not  nnty_are.  {fa  n^w  func- 
tions of  management  carried  on  in  the  plannin^-rgpm.  but 
wherever  possible,  work  that  was  beforq  performed  by  the 
men  in  the  shop  is  put  into  the  hands  pf  clerks  in  the  r>ffirp 
Indeed,  it  is  claimed  that  almost  all  of  what  appear  to  be 
novel  duties,  created  by  scientific  management,  should 
really  be  classified  as  falling  under  this  latter  head — that 
of  work  which  was  previously  done, — only  in  clumsy  fash- 
ion,— by  the  workmen.  The  imposing  of  duties  upon  the 
planning  department,  therefore,  consists,  not  so  much  in 
piling  up  new  tasks,  as  in  relieving  the  grimy  hands  of  the 
machinists  of  certain  clerical  routine;  and  in  planning  as 
much  of  the  work  as  possible  in  a  place  where  adequate 
records,  roomy  desks,  and  expert  heads  are  available. 

As  far  as  possible  the  workmen,  as  well  as  the  gang  bosses 
and  foremen,  should  be  entirely  relieved  of  the  work  of  plan- 
ning, and  of  all  work  which  is  more  or  less  clerical  in  its  nature. 
All  possible  brain  work  should  be  removed  from  the  shop  and 
centered  in  the  planning  or  laying-out  department.  .  .  .* 

The  second  great  change  in  organization  due  to  scien- 
tific management  is  a  certain  specialization  among  the  mem- 
bers of  the  planning  and  directing  force.  This  develop- 
ment, which  is  called  functional  manafiemgnJ:.  is  in  part  a 
consequence  of  increased  numbers,  but  not  entirely.  The 
main  reason  given  by  Mr.  Taylor  for  introducing  func- 
tional management  is  the  scarcity  of  good  all-around  fore- 
men. To  quote : 2 

These  nine  qualities  go  to  make  up  a  well  rounded  man :  Brains, 
education,  special  or  technical  knowledge  [or]  manual  dexterity 
or  strength,  tact,  energy,  grit,  honesty,  judgment  or  common 
sense,  and  good  health. 

1 "  Shop  Management,"  in  Transactions,  vol.  xxiv,  p.  1390. 
f  Ibid.,  p.  1389. 


359]          GENESIS  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  85 

Plenty  of  men  who  possess  only  three  of  the  above  quali- 
ties can  be  hired  at  any  time  for  laborers'  wages.  Add  four 
of  these  qualities  together  and  you  get  a  higher  priced  man. 
The  man  combining  five  of  these  qualities  begins  to  be  hard 
to  find,  and  those  with  six,  seven,  and  eight  are  almost  im- 
possible to  get. 

Mr.  Taylor  reviews  the  things  which  an  ordinary  fore- 
man is  supposed  to  do  and  finds  them  so  complex  that  he 
abandons  altogether  the  old  system  of  having  all  sides  of 
a  workman's  activities  directed  by  one  person.  He  substi- 
tutes for  it  a  system  of  eight  bosses,  eight  functional  fore- 
men, who  each  have  only  a  few  things  to  look  after.  Four 
of  these  bosses  are  on  hand  in  the  shop.  "  The  gang  boss 
has  charge  of  the  preparation  of  all  work  up  to  the  time 
that  the  piece  is  set  in  the  machine."  1  Matters  connected 
with  the  assignment  of  tasks,  the  supplying  of  jigs,  tem- 
plets, drawings,  etc.,  and  the  accurate  and  rapid  setting  of 
work  are  his  peculiar  function.  The  province  of  the  speed 
boss  begins  after  the  piece  is  in  the  lathe  or  planer,  and 
ends  when  the  actual  machining  is  done.  It  is  his  duty  to 
see  that  the  proper  tools  are  chosen,  that  the  cuts  are 
started  in  the  right  place,  that  the  best  speeds,  feeds,  and 
depths  of  cut  are  used.  The  functions  of  the  inspector  are 
self-explanatory.2  "  The  repair  boss  sees  that  each  work- 
man keeps  his  machine  clean,  free  from  rust  and  scratches, 
and  that  he  oils  and  treats  it  properly,"  etc. 

Four  other  bosses  are  in  the  planning-room,  but  they 
nevertheless  come  in  direct  contact  with  the  work  of  each 
machinist,  mainly  through  writing.  The  order  of  work  or 
route  clerk  makes  out  daily  lists  covering  "  the  exact  order 

1  Transactions,  loc.  cit.,  p.  1392. 

?  In  more  recent  years,  at  least,  the  inspector  under  scientific  manage- 
ment has  been  entrusted  with  the  teaching  of  workman  as  to  how  they 
may  attain  to  necessary  standards. 


86  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [360 

in  which  the  work  is  to  be  done  by  each  class  of  machines 
or  men."  The  instruction-card  clerk,  by  means  of  the  in- 
struction card,  transmits  to  the  man  at  the  machine,  not 
only  all  necessary  details  as  to  the  specifications  for  the 
work,  but  also  such  data,  drawn  from  the  files  in  the  office, 
as  may  suggest  the  most  efficient  methods  of  operation. 
The  time  and  cost  clerk  gives  to  the  men,  also  by  means  of 
the  instruction  card,  such  information  as  they  should  have 
concerning  time  and  rates,  and  secures  frcni  them  proper 
returns  for  the  office  records.  The  shop  disciplinarian,  "in 
case  of  insubordination  or  impudence,  repeated  failure  to 
do  their  duty,  lateness  or  unexcused  absence,  .  .  .  takes 
the  workmen  or  bosses  in  hand  and  applies  the  proper 
remedy,  and  sees  that  a  complete  record  of  each  man's 
virtues  and  defects  is  kept."  He  should  have  much  to  do 
with  readjusting  wages;  one  of  his  important  functions 
should  be  that  of  peace-maker.1 

While  a  critical  estimate  of  the  importance  of  the  fea- 
tures just  outlined  is  reserved  for  a  later  chapter,  this  much 
may  be  indicated  here,  that  the  above  type  of  organization 
is  not  as  fundamental  a  part  of  scientific  management  as 
are  the  two  primary  phases.  Changes  of  organization  of 
some  sort  certainly  must  be  made.  But  the  precise  scheme 
here  described,  though  believed  by  the  closer  adherents  of 
Mr.  Taylor  to  constitute  the  best  possible  solution  of  the 
problem,  is  viewed  by  others  as  too  elaborate  to  be  adapted 
to  all  shop  situations. 

In  general,  scientific  management  involves  an  internal  re- 
adjustment by  which  division  of  labor  and  specialization 
of  skill  are  pushed  much  further  than  before,  both  as  re- 
gards the  work  of  the  shop  and  that  of  the  management. 

1  Functional  foremanship  has  been  described  here  in  the  terms  of 
the  metal-cutting  shop.  Its  application  to  other  industries  would  be 
attended  by  considerable  alteration  in  detail,  but  perhaps  little  change 
in  essential  principle. 


361]          GENESIS  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  g? 

3.  CONCLUSION:  THE  GENESIS  OF  THE  PRINCIPLES  OF 
SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

With  the  publication  of  "  Shop  Management  "  the  gen- 
esis of  scientific  management  may  be  regarded  as  complete. 
There  have,  indeed,  been  great  changes  since  1903;  but 
each  of  the  developments  of  the  last  twelve  years  may  be 
classified  as  either  a  new  emphasis  on,  or  a  more  perfect 
working-out  of,  some  one  or  another  of  the  old  ideas.  The 
two  following  chapters  will  present  the  facts  regarding  the 
application  of  the  aforesaid  principles.  A  characterization 
of  the  life  and  work  of  the  several  great  leaders,  and  then 
a  more  detailed  survey  of  the  chief  instances  of  the  intro- 
duction of  the  system,  will  complete,  by  bringing  down  to 
the  present  date,  the  history  of  scientific  management. 


CHAPTER  IV 

LIVES  OF  THE  LEADERS 

INCLUDING  CERTAIN  CONTRIBUTIONS  TO  THE  ENRICH- 
MENT OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

I.  FREDERICK  WINSLOW  TAYLOR 

So  much  has  already  been  said  in  regard  to  the  founder 
of  scientific  management  that  we  will  here  content  our- 
selves with  presenting  little  more  than  a  summary  of  his 
life.  Frederick  Winslow,  son  of  Franklin  and  Emily 
(Winslow)  Taylor,  was  born  March  20,  1856,  at  German- 
town,  Philadelphia.  He  received  part  of  his  primary  edu- 
cation in  France,  Germany,  and  Italy,1  and  was  pre- 
pared for  Harvard  at  Phillips  Exeter  Academy  (where  his 
instructor  in  mathematics  was  George  A.  Went  worth,  the 
author  of  many  well-known  textbooks).  Impaired  eye- 
sight, however,  changed  his  educational  plans,  and  during 
four  years  of  his  youth  he  served  apprenticeships  as  a 
pattern-maker  and  as  a  machinist,  in  a  small  pump-works 
at  Philadelphia. 

When,  at  the  age  of  22,  he  was  ready  to  practice  his 
trade,  the  depression  still  lingering  from  the  panic  of  1873 
compelled  him  to  start  as  a  laborer.  Thus  was  begun  an 
eleven  years'  employment  in  the  works  of  the  Midvale 
Steel  Company,  during  which  Taylor  was  rapidly  pro- 
moted. From  1878  to  1880  he  served  as  laborer,  clerk, 

1  He  was  abroad  for  three  years  and  a  half,  and  attended  schools  in 
Paris,  Berlin,  Stuttgart,  and  Italy. 

88  [362 


363]  LIVES  OF  THE  LEADERS  89 

and  (for  about  two  months)  journeyman  machinist;  from 
1880  to  1882  as  gang-boss;  from  1882  until  the  time  of 
his  leaving  in  1889,  as  foreman,  chief  draughtsman,  and 
finally  (having  taken  the  degree  of  Mechanical  Engineer 
from  the  Stevens  Institute  of  Technology  in  1883),  as 
chief  engineer.  It  was  when  Taylor  became  gang-boss  in 
1880  that  he  first  determined  to  discover,  by  scientific 
methods,  how  long  it  should  take  men  to  perform  each 
given  piece  of  work;  and  it  was  in  the  fall  of  1882,  shortly 
after  he  had  been  elevated  to  the  position  of  foreman,  that 
he  started  to  put  the  first  features  of  scientific  management 
into  operation. 

In  1889  Mr.  Taylor  decided  to  apply  his  ideas  in  a  wider 
field.  He  served  for  three  years  a  corporation  operating 
large  pulp-mills  in  Maine,  and  then  attempted  in  various 
parts  of  the  country  a  reorganization  of  industrial  plants. 
This  involved  a  variety  of  manufacturing,  structural,  and 
engineering  work;  but  his  most  celebrated  undertakings 
were  in  connection  with  the  plant  of  the  Bethlehem  Steel 
Company  between  1898  and  1901.  In  IQOI,  Mr.  Taylor's 

Viim    fr. 


for  pay;  1  but  it  was  only  to  give  himself  more  completely 
to  the  cause  of  scientific  management.  Thus  he  testified  2 
that,  since  1901,  in  giving  assistance  to  friends  who  desired 
to  improve  their  own  or  others'  plants,  he  had  "  spent 
more  than  one-third  "  of  his  income,  and  given  his  "whole 
personal  time  "  -  this  without  any  money  compensation, 
direct  or  remote.  Especially  as  adviser  of,  and  owner  of 
a  small  interest  in  the  Tabor  Manufacturing  Company, 
and  as  a  consultant  for  the  Link-Belt  Company,  has  he 

1  Hearings  before  Special  Committee  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives. to  Investigate  the  Taylor  and  Other  Systems  of  Shop  Manage- 
ment, p.  1507. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  1490. 


90  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

had  a  hand  in  the  creation  of  what  is  regarded  as  the  high- 
est development  of  scientific  management. 

Mr.  Taylor  has  taken  out  about  one  hundred  patents,  his 
greatest  invention  being  the  discovery  between  1898  and 
1900,  jointly  with  Mr.  Maunsel  White,  of  the  Taylor- 
White  high-speed  steel.  This  invention,  according  to  the 
highest  authorities,  has  revolutionized  the  machine  shops 
of  the  world,  enabling  tools  to  cut  metal  at  least  three 
times  as  rapidly  as  before.  The  inventors  received  $100,- 
ooo  for  the  English  patents  alone.  Fame  again  came  to 
Mr.  Taylor  upon  his  publication,  in  1906,  of  the  results  of 
the  extended  researches  of  himself  and  others  in  the  art 
of  cutting  metals  * — a  work  of  genuine  scientific  character, 
and  of  the  highest  practical  importance.  Mr.  Taylor,  how- 
ever, regarded  as  of  far  greater  moment  than  all  this  other 
work  his  share  in  the  discovery  of  the  principles  of  scien- 
tific management. 

Among  the  honors  which  have  been  conferred  upon 
Taylor  are  a  gold  medal  from  the  Paris  Exposition  of 
1900,  the  presidency  of  the  American  Society  of  Mechan- 
ical Engineers  during  1906,  and  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Science  from  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  also  in  1906. 
In  January,  1912,  he  stated  that  he  was  then  receiving, 
from  all  parts  of  the  country,  invitations  to  make  addresses 
at  the  rate  of  one  a  day.  His  Principles  of  Scientific  Man- 
agement has  been  translated  into  French,  German,  Dutch, 
Danish,  Swedish,  Lettisch,  Italian,  Japanese,  and  Mexican ; 
his  "  Shop  Management "  into  French,  German,  Dutch, 
and  Russian. 

Mr.  Taylor  died  March  21,  1915,  just  after  passing  his 
fifty-ninth  birthday.  The  physical  fitness  that  once  won 

1  "  On  the  Art  of  Cutting  Metals,"  in  Transactions  of  the  American 
Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers,  vol.  xxviii. 


365]  LIVES  OF  THE  LEADERS  9! 

him  a  national  tennis  championship,  and  the  mental  stamina 
and  bull-dog  tenacity  with  which  he  always  held  to  an  idea 
which  he  had  decided  to  pursue,  were  mellowed  and  broad- 
ened with  the  passing  years  into  those  genial  qualities  of 
host  and  friend  that  made  the  Taylor  home  at  Chestnut 
Hill,  Philadelphia,  a  delightful  Mecca  for  those  interested 
in  scientific  management,  and  Mr.  Taylor  himself  the  elder 
among  a  group  of  loyal  followers.1  Even  the  men  who 
most  disapprove  of  scientific  management  have  nothing  but 
good  to  say  about  Mr.  Taylor  personally,  and  his  death 
will  be  felt  as  a  personal  bereavement  by  a  large  circle  of 
friends  as  well  as  a  great  loss  to  the  cause  which  he  so  ably 
and  so  unselfishly  served.2 

1  Many  who  recognize  the  bigness  of  Taylor's  service  view  unfavor- 
ably some  aspects  of  his  methods.  They  complain  that  he  would  not 
relax  at  all  from  one  original  plan,  but  insisted  that  a  shop  be  reor- 
ganized in  every  detail  according  to  a  prolonged  and  complicated  pro- 
gram. Furthermore,  the  thoroughness  of  his  reform  had  to  include 
the  timing  of  operations  in  units  much  more  refined  than  most  other 
efficiency  men  attempt.  For  these  reasons,  and  because  he  retired  from 
regular  practice  as  early  as  1901,  critics  and  even  friends  insist  that 
Taylor  has  himself  accomplished  far  less  than  various  followers  who 
have  caught  his  spirit  but  revised  his  methods.  This  assertion,  how- 
ever, they  rarely  intend  as  a  reflection  on  Taylor's  leadership,  as  many 
efficiency  engineers  only  remotely  connected  with  the  Taylor  following 
are  ready  to  admit  that  if  it  had  not  been  for  Taylor's  example,  they 
would  probably  not  be  found  in  their  present  line  of  work. 

1  Among  Mr.  Taylor's  chief  writings  may  be  enumerated  the  fol- 
lowing papers  read  before  the  American  Society  of  Mechanical  En- 
gineers:  "A  Piece-Rate  System"  (1895);  "Shop  Management" 
(1903)  ;  "  On  the  Art  of  Cutting  Metals"  (1906).  With  S.  E.  Thomp- 
son, he  has  written  Concrete,  Plain  and  Reinforced  (1905),  and  Con- 
crete Costs  (1911).  His  philosophy  is,  however,  best  expressed  in 
The  Principles  of  Scientific  Management  (1911).  His  system  is  also 
explained  in  contributions  to  the  periodicals;  in  numerous  addresses; 
in  testimony  before  the  special  House  committee  which  investigated 
scientific  management  (1911-12)  ;  and  in  testimony  before  the  Indus- 
trial Relations  Commission  (April,  1914). 


92  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [366 

2.    HENRY    L.    GANTT 

Henry  L.  Gantt,  who  is  five  years  younger  than  Taylor, 
graduated  from  Johns  Hopkins  University  with  the  degree 
of  A.  B.  in  1880;  taught  school  for  the  following  three 
years;  and,  in  1884,  secured  his  M.  E.  from  Stevens  Insti- 
tute of  Technology.  His  first  important  work  was  for  the 
Midvale  Steel  Company,  where  he  remained  six  years.1  It 
was  here  that  (in  1887)  he  first  came  in  contact  with  the 
methods  of  scientific  management,  being  employed  for  a 
year  and  a  half  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Taylor.  His 
task  was  to  find  some  means  by  which  the  laws  governing 
the  cutting  of  metals  might  be  quickly  applied  to  the  prac- 
tical work  of  the  machine  shop.  The  solution  then  dis- 
covered was  only  moderately  satisfactory ;  but  the  incident 
meant  much  for  scientific  management,  for  from  1887 
until  the  present  day  Mr.  Gantt  has,  with  few  interrup- 
tions, spent  all  of  his  time  in  the  service  of  this  system. 

Gantt's  contact  with  Taylor  was  cut  short  in  the  eighties, 
and  was  only  intermittent  in  the  varied  work  of  the  next  ten 
years.  It  was  renewed  again  in  the  completes!  manner  when 
in  March,  1899,  Taylor  had  Gantt  called  to  Bethlehem.  Be- 
tween 1899  and  1902,  one  of  Gantt's  duties  at  Bethlehem 
was  to  help  another  aid  of  Taylor,  Carl  G.  Barth,  in  his 
development  of  the  slide  rule,  a  device  which  solved  with 
remarkable  ease  the  problem  which  in  the  eighties  Gantt 
had  by  himself  only  partially  disposed  of.  The  main  credit 
for  the  slide  rule  belongs,  however,  to  Barth ;  Gantt  regards 
as  his  own  greatest  achievement  of  the  period  the  develop- 
ment of  "Task  Work  with  a  Bonus." 

The  story  runs  that,  after  about  two  years  of  careful 
investigation  in  the  machine  shop  at  Bethlehem  and  the 
gradual  adoption  of  many  notable  improvements,  it  was 

1  1887  to  1893. 


367]  LIVES  OF  THE  LEADERS  93 

evident  that  operations  could  be  performed  a  great  deal 
faster  than  the  men  had  as  yet  been  induced  to  work.    But' 
the  management  hesitated  to  force  production  up  to  the 
then  possible  standard  through  the  introduction  of  the  dif- 
ferential rate,  for  this  would  mean  the  establishment,  upon 
the  basis  of  imperfect  methods,  of  piece-rates  which  couldj 
never  be  cut.     They  wished  first  to  carry  the  process  oi 
improvement  somewhat  further.     Accordingly,  as  a  tem- 
porary expedient,  Mr.  Gantt,  on  March  n,  1901,  proposed! 
that  the  establishment  offer  a  daily  bonus  of  fifty  cents  to] 
whoever  should  perform  all  the  tasks  set  down  on  his  in- 
struction card — thus  substituting  a  very  flexible  standard 
of  work  for  the  rigid  piece-work  system. 

This  was  at  first  regarded  as  only  a  temporary  measure," 
but  by  a  later  amendment  the  bonus  system  was  adapted 
for  permanent  use.  It  was  made  to  offer  not  only  a  re- 
ward for  the  completion  of  the  task  in  the  allotted  time, 
but  also  an  additional  inducement  to  those  who, were  able 
to  do  still  better.  It  was  made  to  consist  in  giving  to  all 
workers  their  day  rate,  but  to  the  men  who  finished  their 
tasks  in  the  time  set  or  less,  pay  for  the  number  of  hours 
allotted  plus  a  certain  additional  time  (for  instance,  for  a 
three  hours'  task,  four  hours'  pay) ,  —  this  same  numSer 
of  hours  pay  to  be  always  given  for  work,  whether  fin- 
ished in  standard  time  or  less.  Thus  the  system  is,  for  the 
man  who  is  accustomed  to  perform  his  tasks  or  more,  the 
exact  equivalent  of  piece-work. 

The  bonus  system  —  whether  it  be  of  the  original  type 
(designed  only  for  temporary  use)  or  of  the  amended 
variety  (suited  to  become  a  part  of  the  permanent  system) 
— is  like  the  differential-rate  system  in  this,  that  they  both 
make  a  complete  study  of  the  possibilities  of  work,  and 
then  give  the  man  who  performs  a  good  day's  task  a  higher 


94  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [368 

rate  of  pay  than  is  customary  in  the  trade.  The  original 
type  of  bonus  differs  from  the  differential  rate  in  that  the 
former  involves  no  creation  of  unalterable  piece-rates.  The 
amended  bonus  system  is  more  flexible  than  the  differential 
rate,  in  that  if  it  be  so  desired  different  men  can  be  allowed 
varying  amounts  of  pay  for  the  same  work  —  by  simply 
basing  their  remuneration  on  higher  or  lower  day  rates.1 
Both  the  new  varieties  depart  from  the  old  path  in  that 
they  give  the  regular  day's  pay  to  learners  and  others  who 
fall  short  of  the  standard. 

Mr.  Gantt  lays  considerable  stress  on  a  supplementary 
feature  adopted  at  the  suggestion  of  the  machine-shop 
superintendent,  Mr.  Earle,  by  which  the  boss  is  paid  a  small 
bonus  for  each  of  his  men  who  earns  a  bonus.  In  addi- 
tion, a  second  bonus  is  given  if  every  one  of  the  sub- 
ordinates is  successful.  These  devices  are  designed  to 
make  the  boss  deal  fairly  with  all  in  his  assignment  of 
work,  and  especially  vigilant  in  removing  difficulties  from 
the  paths  of  the  weaker  men. 

Immediately  after  its  suggestion,  the  task  and  bonus 
system  was  put  into  operation;  it  was  at  once  recognized 
as  valuable,  and  is  now  said  to  have  very  nearly  displaced 
the  differential  rate. 

But  to  return  to  the  career  of  Mr.  Gantt — a  change  hav- 
ing been  made  in  the  management  of  the  Bethlehem  Steel 
Company,  he  left  their  employ  in  1902,  and  entered  the 
profession  of  consulting  engineer;  in  this  he  is  still  en- 
gaged. A  partial  list  of  the  plants  in  which  he  has  done 
more  or  less  work  would  include  the  American  Locomo- 
tive Company,  the  Canadian  Pacific  railway,  the  Sayle's 
>leacheries,  the  works  of  Joseph  Bancroft  at  Wilmington, 

1  This  is  almost  (though  not  quite)   as  true  of  the  plan  which  Mr. 
Gantt  first  proposed. 


369] 


LIVES  OF  THE  LEADERS 


95 


the  Brighton  mills,  and  the  Cheney  silk  mills.1  His  great- 
est achievement  thus  far  has  been  in  the  plant  of  the 
Union  Typewriter  Company; 2  of  still  greater  promise — 
though  only  recently  developed  to  any  considerable  scale — 
is  his  work  for  the  Westinghouse  Electric  Company.3  It 
should  be  said  that  in  very  few  of  these  plants  has  Mr, 
Gantt  installed  his  system  in  its  entirety,  and  that  in  many 
of  them  his  work  was  done  at  a  period  when  he  had  not 
developed  his  own  ideas  as  completely  as  he  has  at  present. 
We  have  seen  that  Gantt's  greatest  contribution  to  the 
method  of  scientific  management  is  a  very  mild  and  easily 
introduced  wage  system,  and  that  he  has  had  an  unusually 
wide  experience  in  reorganizing  factories  (the  number  and 
importance  of  which  the  above  list  only  suggests).  The 
key  to  his  success  is  a  disposition  to  adjust  his  course  to 
the  practical  aspects  of  whatever  situation  confronts  him. 
Thus — 

WHEN  AN  OBSTACLE  APPEARS 

Taylor's  course  —  was  to  plough        Sometimes,   indeed,  Gantt   does 
right  through.  not  reach  his  original  goal,  but  de- 

But  Gantt's  .  .  .  is  to  adapt  him-     cides  on  a  new  one. 
self  most  easily  to  the  situation. 


As  Illustrated  by  a  Friend  As  Modified  by  Gantt, 

of  the  Two  Men  .    Himself 

1  Considerable    interest    has    been    shown    in    scientific-management's 
early— though  only  partial— installation  in  the  works  of  the  Symonds 
Rolling  Machine  Company,  where  Mr.  Gantt  was  at  the  time  superin- 
tendent.    See  supra,  p.  79 ;  and  infra,  p.  124. 

2  Makers  of  Remington,  Monarch,  and  Smith-Premier  Typewriters. 

3  "  When  scientific  management  is  completely  established  at  the  West- 
inghouse plant,"  writes  a  thoroughly  informed  and  impartial  observer, 
"  its  effect  will  be  more  far-reaching  than  the  effects  of  any  work  that 
has  been  heretofore  done." 


96  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [370 

^T'  ^antt  regai"ds  every  factory  as  a  law  unto  itself. 
His  idea  of  scientific  management  is  not  that  of  one  mold, 
which  all  factory  organizations  must  be  warped  to  fit;  but 
as  he  sees  it,  there  are  as  many  distinct  scientific  manage- 
ments as  there  are  different  shops.  By  many  who  ought  to 
know,  Gantt  is  regarded  as  the  strongest  man  in  the  scien- 
tific-management movement.  He  is  said  to  be  the  man 
who  is  getting  results.1 

3.    CARL    G.    EARTH 

Carl  G.  Earth,  though  perhaps  a  few  months  the  senior 
of  Gantt,  and  an  acquaintance  of  Taylor  since  the  middle 
eighties,  did  not  come  into  actual  touch  with  scientific 
management  until  1899.  His  earlier  training  was  acquired 
in  his  native  Norway,  and  consisted  of  the  equivalent  of  a 
high-school  education,  followed  by  a  technical  course  last- 
ing a  year  and  a  half;  and  then  four  years  practical  ex- 
perience, of  which  the  first  two  were  spent  as  an  apprentice 
in  the  navy-yard  boiler  and  machine  shops,  and  the  second 
two  in  teaching  mathematics  and  mechanical  drawing  in- 
terspersed for  a  time  with  service  in  the  superintendent-of- 
the-yard's  office. 

As  a  youth  of  about  twenty-one,  Barth  emigrated  to 
America,  and  found  employment  in  the  drawing-room  of 
William  Sellers  &  Company,  of  Philadelphia.  With  this 
concern  he  remained  (excepting  a  short  intermission)  for 
fourteen  successive  years,  at  the  end  of  which  period  he 
was  occupying  the  position  of  chief  designer  of  machin- 
ery on  a  salary  of  $3,000.  During  most  of  this  time  Barth 

1  Mr.  Gantt's  leading  works  are :  "  A  Bonus  System  for  Rewarding 
Labor"  (Dec.,  1901),  "A  Graphical  Daily  Balance  in  Manufacture" 
(1903)1  and  "Training  of  Workmen"  (1908) — the  three  foregoing  being 
found  in  the  Transactions  of  the  American  Society  of  Mechanical  En- 
gineers; his  book,  Work,  Wages  and  Profits  (1910  and  new  editions)  ; 
and  various  periodical  contributions. 


371  ]  LIVES  OF  THE  LEADERS  97 

had  been  devoting  his  odd  hours  to  teaching:  for  six 
years  meeting  mechanical-drawing  classes  at  the  Franklin 
Institute  on  some  evenings  of  the  week  and  private  pupils 
in  mathematics  on  the  others ;  and  then  for  two  years  con- 
ducting a  private  evening  school  of  his  own.  But  now  a 
taste  for  a  career  as  a  professor  of  engineering  was  rapidly 
developing;  and  in  order  to  equip  himself  for  such  a  posi- 
tion, Barth  first  gave  up  evening  work  for  pay,  that  he 
might  improve  his  knowledge  of  engineering  subjects. 
Shortly  afterwards  (in  1895)  ne  left  William  Sellers  & 
Company  to  accept  the  modest  offer  of  a  St.  Louis  con- 
cern,1 which  would  give  experience  in  designing  engines. 
After  two  years  of  rather  versatile  service  here,  and  then 
three  months  spent  in  designing  special  machines  for  the 
St.  Louis  water  commission,  he  was  identified  with  the 
International  Correspondence  Schools  for  about  a  year  and 
a  half,  and  with  the  manual  training  and  mathematical 
work  of  the  Ethical  Culture  Schools  of  New  York  for  a 
school  year  of  nine  months. 

In  June,  1899,  Taylor  sought  to  avail  himself  of  this 
technical  equipment  by  bringing  Barth  to  Bethlehem  "  to 
effect  a  more  satisfactory  solution  for  the  mathematical 
problems  connected  with  the  art  of  cutting  metals  and  its 
application  to  the  every-day  running  of  machine  tools."  2 
Barth  not  only  solved  this  difficult  mathematical  problem 
in  a  few  months  by  the  invention  of  the  slide  rule,  an  in- 
vention whose  far-reaching  importance  we  have  set  forth 
elsewhere,3  but  he  was  from  the  first  put  in  charge  of  the 
machines  doing  Taylor's  experimental  work.  When  all  this 
was  over  with,  he  was  made  machine-shop  engineer,  and 

1  The  Rankin  and  Fritch  Foundry  and  Machine  Company. 
1  Quotations    from  testimony   of   Barth  before   special   House   com- 
mittee. 

3  See  supra,  pp.  73-75,  and  92. 


98  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [370 

given  the  duty,  among  other  things,  of  "  reconstructing 
and  respeeding,  repairs,  and  maintenance  of  all  machinery 
and  tools  in  their  large  machine  shop." 

Though  Earth  at  this  time  "  paid  but  little  attention  to 
the  general  management  side "  of  scientific  management, 
he  was  very  much  interested  in  those  features  of  the  sys- 
tem with  which  his  work  brought  him  in  special  contact. 
The  result  has  been  that,  since  leaving  the  employ  of  the 
Bethlehem  Steel  Company  in  1901,  he  has  "practically 
busied  [him] self  with  nothing  else"  than  introducing  the 
Taylor  system  into  factories;  and  though  afterwards  he 
broadened  out  until  he  understood  every  side  of  scientific 
management,  he  still  remains  particularly  efficient  in  those 
elements  which  center  about  the  manipulation  of  machine 
tools.  According  to  Gantt,  he  is  the  most  expert  of  the 
scientific-management  men  in  looking  over  and  strengthen- 
ing the  weak  places  in  machines.  According  to  Taylor,1 
he  is  "  the  most  accomplished  of  all  the  men  engaged  in 
this  work  "  (installing  the  system  as  a  whole),  a  man  who 
has  "  made  a  greater  success  of  introducing  scientific 
management  into  the  difficult  companies  than  any  other 
single  man." 

After  leaving  Bethlehem,  Earth's  first  fifteen  months 
were  spent  in  investigating  conditions  in  the  plant  of  his 
old  employer,  William  Sellers  &  Company,  the  work,  how- 
ever, not  being  carried  to  completion.  Mr.  Barth  then 
spent  four  years  and  a  half  introducing  scientific  manage- 
ment into  the  plant  of  the  Link-Belt  Company,  where  to 
begin  with  he  had  charge  of  only  the  mechanical  features. 
After  the  first  year,  however,  he  was  compelled  to  assume 
the  burden  of  installing  all  the  various  sides  of  the  system, 
—being  enabled  to  do  this  through  a  certain  amount  of 

1  From  correspondence  dated  Oct.  6,  1913. 


373]  LIVES  OF  THE  LEADERS  Qg 

general  and  gratuitous  direction  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Taylor. 
This  superintendence  was  for  a  couple  of  years  more  or 
less  regular,  but  later  very  limited.  Simultaneously  with 
the  systematizing  of  the  Link-Belt  Company,  Earth  had 
charge  of  similar  but  even  more  important  work  in  the 
plant  of  the  Tabor  Manufacturing  Company, — also  under 
the  general  guidance  of  Taylor.  Here  he  had  the  valuable 
assistance  during  part  of  the  time  of  H.  K.  Hathaway. 
The  first  job  undertaken  on  Earth's  own  responsibility  was 
at  the  Yale  &  Towne  Manufacturing  Company's  plant, 
where  scientific  management  was  introduced  in  the  one  de- 
partment (hoist)  in  which  machine  operations  count  for 
the  most.  Among  other  plants  where  Earth  has  installed 
more  or  less  of  what  he  loyally  calls  the  "Taylor  System," 
are  the  Fairbanks  Scale  Company;  the  Government  Ar- 
senal at  Watertown,  with  the  aid  of  D.  V.  Merrick;  and — 
what  constitutes  his  present  great  undertaking — the  Pull- 
man Company,1  of  Chicago. 

4.    HORACE    K.    HATHAWAY 

While  Gantt  is  praised  as  a  manager,  and  Earth  as  a 
mathematician  and  master  of  mechanical  equipment,  to 
Horace  K.  Hathaway  belongs,  according  to  Taylor,  the 
credit  for  being  the  best  all-around  man  in  the  movement. 
Mr.  Hathaway  is  sixteen  or  seventeen  years  the  junior  of 
the  two  men  just  mentioned,  being  at  the  time  of  writing 
thirty-eight  years  old.  He  has  no  degree  in  engineering, 
but  received  his  training  during  two  years  (1894-96)  spent 
in  a  trade  school  (Williamson),  and  a  year  and  a  half  spent 
as  an  apprentice  with  the  Midvale  Steel  Company  (1906-7). 
After  completing  his  apprenticeship,  he  continued  in  the 
employ  of  the  Midvale  Steel  company  until  1902.  He 
served  about  six  months  as  a  journeyman  machinist,  and 

1  It  is   rumored  that   Earth's   work   for  the   Pullman   Company  has 
been   fruitful  of  revolutionary — though  yet  unpublished — discoveries. 


I0o  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [374 

then  worked  up  in  the  organization  through  the  positions 
of  draftsman,  inspector,  and  gang-boss,  until  he  was  fin- 
ally made  foreman  over  all  the  tool-making  and  tool-keep- 
ing rooms  in  the  plant.  In  1902  he  left  Midvale  to  become 
superintendent  for  the  Payne  Engine  Company,  a  small 
concern,  with  which  he  remained  for  two  years. 

It  was  immediately  following  this  that,  in  1904,  Hath- 
away first  came  in  contact  with  scientific  management,1 
through  being  detailed  to  assist  Barth  install  the  "Taylor 
System  "  in  the  Philadelphia  plant  of  the  Link-Belt  Com- 
pany. This  first  assignment  was,  however,  comparatively 
unimportant.  After  only  two  or  three  months,  Hathaway 
was  transferred  from  the  Link-Belt  plant,  and  placed  with 
the  Tabor  Manufacturing  Company — at  the  time  also  in 
charge  of  Barth.  Here,  as  the  years  went  by,  he  gave  so 
good  an  account  of  himself  that  he  eventually  became  the 
most  important  person  about  the  works.  As  vice-president 
of  the  company,  he  brought  the  organization  to  so  high  a 
degree  of  perfection  that  the  Tabor  plant  has  come  to  be 
regarded  as  the  finest  example  of  the  success  of  scientific 
management.  Its  productivity,  it  is  said,  has  been  multi- 
plied by  three. 

In  addition  to  his  continued  participation  in  the  affairs 
of  the  Tabor  Manufacturing  Company,  Hathaway  has 
more  recently  taken  on  the  profession  of  consulting  engi- 
neer, with  headquarters  in  Philadelphia.  Among  the  plants 
in  which  he  has  installed  scientific  management  are  the 
Acme  Wire  Company  and,  in  cooperation  with  Morris  L. 
Cooke,  the  Plimpton  Press.2 

1  Taylor  had  left  Midvale  seven  years  before  Hathaway's  coming, 
and  the  system  there  had  remained  in  the  rudimentary  form  which 
constituted  the  highest  development  of  the  eighties. 

1  A  further  characterization  of  the  work  of  Hathaway  need  not  be 
given  here,  since  reference  may  be  made  to  the  reorganization  of  the 
Tabor  Manufacturing  Company  as  treated  in  the  next  chapter. 


375]  LIVES  OF  THE  LEADERS  IOI 

5.    MORRIS    L.    COOKE 

The  special  importance  of  the  work  of  Morris  L.  Cooke 
is  derived  from  the  fact  that  it  marks  an  extension  of  scien- 
tific management  into  new  fields.  We  will  pass  over  with- 
out comment  Cooke's  life  as  a  mechanical  engineer,  and 
even  that  part  of  his  career  which  had  to  do  with  the  in- 
troduction of  scientific  management  into  printing,1  in  order 
that  we  may  come  at  once  to  the  two  unique  lines  along 
which  he  has  distinguished  himself. 

The  first  of  these  undertakings  grew  out  of  the  decision 
of  the  Carnegie  Foundation  for  the  Advancement  of  Teach- 
ing to  get  a  man  familiar  with  modern  business  manage- 
ment to  estimate  the  cost  and  output  of  leading  American 
universities.  The  man  commissioned  to  make  this  study 
was  Cooke;  the  field  selected  for  investigation  comprised 
the  various  departments  of  physics;  the  institutions  visited 
were  Columbia,  Harvard,  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Tech- 
nology, Toronto,  Wisconsin,  Haverford,  Princeton,  and 
Williams.  Though  Cooke's  1 34-page  report,  published  in 
1910  as  Bulletin  Number  Five  of  the  Carnegie  Foundation, 
contains  various  valuable  recommendations  in  regard  to 
the  strictly  financial  and  business  relations  of  the  univer- 
sity, these  cannot  be  discussed  here.  Our  one  interest  at 
this  time  is  in  pointing  out  certain  passages  in  which  Cooke 
— who  is  a  staunch  Taylor  man — tries  to  apply  scientific 
management  to  the  universities'  central  educational  end. 

Corresponding  roughly  to  what  we  have  termed  the  first 
phase  of  scientific  management — which  means  in  industrial 
plants  the  apportioning  of  scientifically  determined  tasks 
among  all  the  workers — Cooke  has  utilized  a  standard  for 
gauging  the  productivity  of  the  respective  departments  of 
physics.  His  unit  of  measurement  is  the  student  hour — 

1  In  the  Plimpton  Press    (with  Hathaway)  ;  and  the  Forbes  Litho- 
graph Company. 


L02  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

that  is,  one  hour  spent  by  one  student  under  direction— 
whether  it  be  in  the  lecture  or  recitation  room,  or  in  the 
laboratory.  The  total  output  in  student  hours  is  easily  ob- 
tained by  multiplying  the  number  of  hours  devoted  to  each 
course  by  the  number  of  students  registered  therein,  and 
then  adding  the  products  together.  The  unit  cost  of  in- 
struction is  calculated  by  dividing  this  total  into  the  aggre- 
gate expense  of  the  department.  It  is  not  claimed  that  this 
method  furnishes  complete  data  for  deciding  whether  or 
not  any  particular  work  pays,  as  it  does  not  take  into 
account  the  value  of  the  courses  offered,  or  the  relative 
quality  of  the  instruction  under  different  men  or  in  various 
institutions;  but  Mr.  Cooke  does  think  that  along  with 
other  considerations  the  exact  cost  of  operation  per  unit 
of  output  is  worth  knowing.  He  finds  that,  of  the  institu- 
tions studied,  Columbia,  Harvard,  and  Haverford  were 
spending  the  greatest  sums  per  student  hour  in  their  re- 
spective departments  of  physics  ($1.08  in  each),  and  Wis- 
consin the  least  ($0.60).  While  Cooke  does  not  himself 
attempt  the  "  setting  of  a  task  "  for  university  men,  at 
some  points  he  makes  suggestions  along  that  line.  For 
instance,  he  says  that  if  the  student  hour  be  used  as  a  basis 
for  determining  what  shall  constitute  a  term's  teaching,  it 
might  be  weighted  so  that  a  lecture  hour  would  count  as 
three  where  a  laboratory  hour  would  be  valued  as  one. 
The  student  hour,  it  should  be  said,  is  advanced  as  a  use- 
ful unit  for  undergraduate  teaching  only,  and  is  not  ad- 
vanced as  applicable  to  graduate  or  research  work. 

Corresponding  to  the  second  phase  of  commercial  scien- 
tific management,  which  aims  to  improve  the  methods  of 
work,  Mr.  Cooke  speaks  with  less  hesitation.  He  regards 
as  the  cardinal  principle  in  university  administration  the 
careful  arrangement  of  the  work  so  that  the  unusually  able 
and  highly  valuable  men  who  make  up  the  ranks  of  pro- 


377]  LIVES  OF  THE  LEADERS 

fessors  may  specialize  in  the  important  fields  for  which 
they  are  peculiarly  qualified.  Thus  it  seemed  to  him  a  great 
waste  when,  "during  the  interviews  which  [he]  had  'with 
college  professors,  he  found  them  spending  time  in  taking 
inventories,  keeping  track  of  appropriations,  mimeograph- 
ing examination  papers  and  handling  routine  correspond- 
ence " ;  and  he  also  finds  fault  with  their  being  given  the 
management  of  buildings.  Part  of  this  work  could  be 
delegated  to  clerks,  and  much  of  it  could  be  done  more 
efficiently  by  central  administrative  departments,  that  would 
look  after  special  functions  for  the  university  as  a  whole. 
A  more  radical  suggestion  is  that  the  institution  assist  in 
the  actual  instruction;  it  is  proposed  that  standard  lecture 
notes  be  worked  up  by  men  specially  commissioned  for  the 
purpose;  and  that  these  be  used  as  common  tools  by  all 
lecturers  covering  the  subject.  Such  details  as  the  more 
complete  utilization  of  rooms,  the  placing  of  lecture  halls 
used  by  large  numbers  of  persons  on  the  first  floor  (instead 
of  museums),  and  the  designing  of  buildings,  come  in  for 
considerable  attention. 

But  the  greatest  stress  of  Cooke's  report  is  on  the  organ- 
ization aspect.  After  reviewing  the  so-called  one-man  type 
of  administration,  which  he  finds  is  now  in  rare  use,  and 
criticizing  the  prevalent  system  of  committee  management, 
which  he  censures  as  giving  too  much  autonomy  to  the  de- 
partments and  too  little  authority  to  either  the  president 
of  the  university  or  the  department  heads,  Cooke  offers  as 
his  leading  suggestion  for  the  improvement  of  academic 
efficiency  the  adoption  of  "functional  management."  In  a 
machine  shop*  functional  management  means  the  appoint- 
ment of  some  eight  bosses,  each  of  whom  looks  after  some 
special  phase  of  the  woVk ;  in  a  university,  functional  man- 
agement would  mean  the  splitting-up  of  the  manifold 
duties  of  administration — and  perhaps  even  of  instruction 


104  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [378 

and  student  guidance — into  some  ten  or  a  hundred  func- 
tions, in  each  of  which  one  person  would  be  the  supreme 
authority.  To  illustrate :  we  may  take  Cooke's  extreme 
example, 

a  single  individual  personally  assume  the  direction  of  a  large 
building  including  laboratories,  machine  shops,  power  plants, 
etc. ;  maintain  order  and  discipline  among  seven  hundred  at 
times  boisterous  spirits;  direct  and  inspire  the  teaching  force 
of  a  score  of  rather  unusually  able  men;  lecture  on  the  most 
attenuated  physical  theories;  keep  in  touch  with  a  large  body 
of  graduates;  carry  on  research  work,  etc. 

From  such  a  man,  overloaded  with  duties  which  he  cannot 
possibly  perform  with  efficiency,  Cooke  would  take  away 
all  but  a  few  functions — as  he  would  also  from  committees 
in  which  management  has  been  similarly  centralized.  A 
large  part  of  the  administrative  work — such  as  purchasing, 
the  supervision  of  buildings  and  grounds,  registration,  and 
even  discipline — could  be  done  for  all  the  departments  by 
central  agencies — as  a  few,  but  not  many,  of  the  institu- 
tions studied  had  already  begun  to  do;  and  the  other  func- 
tions could  be  divided  up  among  the  men  of  the  depart- 
ment, segregating  and  safeguarding  to  each  person  that 
type  of  work  for  which  he  alone  is  perhaps  best  qualified. 

This  treatment  of  Mr.  Cooke's  report  has  been  intro- 
duced, not  only  to  give  the  reader  a  basis  for  judgment  as 
to  how  far  scientific  management  does  or  does  not  offer 
new  or  valuable  suggestions  for  the  organization  of  edu- 
cation and  the  other  larger  social  activities,  but  also  in 
order  that — for  those  who  are  more  familiar  with  college 
than  with  factory  life — the  principles  of  scientific  manage- 
ment may  be  brought  closer  home.  The  significance  of  the 
system  becomes  apparent,  for  instance,  when  Cooke  com- 
pares the  University  of  Toronto  favorably  with  Harvard, 


379]  LIVES  OF  THE  LEADERS 

in  that  in  the  former  less  than  38  per  cent  of  the  total  salary 
fund  of  the  department  of  physics  goes  to  men  above  the 
grade  of  instructor,  while  in  Harvard  the  percentage  is 
84.  If  the  ideas  of  Taylor  could  be  applied  as  thoroughly 
to  undergraduate  instruction  at  Harvard  as  they  have  been 
to  some  shops,  it  would  mean  that  the  bulk  of  the  work — 
at  least  as  far  as  standard  courses  are  concerned — would 
be  transferred  from  professors  to  instructors.  That  is,  a 
system  of  standard  lecture  notes  and  a  subdivision  of  re- 
sponsibility would  enable  less  experienced  and  less  capable 
men  to  obtain  satisfactory  results.  Through  scientific 
assignment  of  tasks  based  on  a  detailed  analysis  of  just 
what  these  instructors  did  with  their  time,  schedules  would 
be  drawn  up  which  would  greatly  increase  the  number  of 
student  hours  per  individual,  the  instructors  being  compen- 
sated by  an  increase  in  pay.  To  complete  the  analogy,  there 
would  be  substituted  for  the  president,  deans,  and  heads 
of  departments,  a  large  planning  department,  composed  of 
the  abler  professors  and  administrators,  who  would  in  their 
respective  spheres  direct  the  machinery  of  education.  The 
theory  would  be:  first,  that  the  general  good  would  be 
promoted  by  an  advance  in  the  technique  of  organization 
which  would  permit  the  replacement  of  the  original  road- 
makers  by  men  of  less  force  and  capacity,  men  who  would 
be  cheaper,  who  would  turn  out  more  work,  and  who 
would  be  perhaps  as  efficient  as  those  of  the  earlier  day; 
and  second,  that  in  no  case  would  the  individual  welfare 
be  jeopardized,  as  the  abler  professors  might  turn  to  other 
fields,  and  their  successors  would  find  in  the  new  conditions 
better  opportunities  than  would  be  open  elsewhere.  Cooke 
has  not  suggested  that  things  be  carried  to  this  extreme  in 
education,  but  something  very  similar  has  been  done  in 
some  of  the  trades,  and  perhaps  the  drawing  of  the  picture 
will  help  to  an  understanding  as  to  why  most  managers 


I06  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [380 

and  many  skilled  artisans  are  cautious  about  putting  them- 
selves under  scientific  management. 

The  second  opportunity  of  Morris  L.  Cooke  to  extend 
the  application  of  scientific  management  into  new  fields 
occurred  when  he  was  made  director  of  public  works  for 
the  city  of  Philadelphia.  During  1912,  the  first  year  of 
his  administration,  it  was  claimed  that  a  reduction  of 
$750,000  was  effected  in  the  expenses  of  the  department. 
A  study  of  his  report  shows  that  in  this  first  year  the 
greater  part  of  his  improvements  were  such  as  any  capable 
business  man  might  have  made.  However,  a  few  of  the 
distinctive  features  of  scientific  management  had  already 
made  their  appearance,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  setting  of 
tasks  for  street  cleaners.1 

6.    SANFORD    E.    THOMPSON 

Sanford  E.  Thompson,  referred  to  by  Taylor 2  as  "  per- 
haps the  most  experienced  man  in  motion  and  time  study 
in  this  country,"  was  born  in  1867,  took  the  degree  of 
C.  E.,  and  since  1885  has  been  engaged  in  practical  civil 
and  mechanical  engineering.  In  1895  he  started  to  co- 
operate with  Taylor  in  some  of  the  latter's  investigations, 

1  Cf.  C.  Bertrand  Thompson's  statement  in  the  Quarterly  Journal  of 
Economics,  Feb.,  1915 :  "  Owing  to  the  peculiarities  of  the  Philadelphia 
law,  and  the  constant  opposition  of  Councils  and  the  previous  almost 
inconceivably  corrupt  state  of  the  department,  it  has  not  been  possible 
to  make  a  thorough  application  of  most  of  the  fundamental  principles 
of  scientific  management.  The  results  attained  thus  far,  amounting  to 
a  saving  of  over  $1,300,000,  are  due  primarily  to  the  injection  of  simple 
honesty  into  the  department,  and  secondly  to  the  utilization,  so  far  as 
conditions  would  permit,  of  expert  knowledge  secured  wherever  it  was 
obtainable." 

Mr.  Cooke  spent  a  year  and  a  half  reorganizing  the  administration' 
of  the  American  Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers,  and  also  played  an 
important  part  in  making  the  arrangements  for  the  Tuck  School  Con- 
ference on  scientific  management. 

*  Principles  of  Scientific  Management,  p.  88. 


381]  LIVES  OF  THE  LEADERS 

and  in  1896  and  the  years  following  undertook  on  his  own 
responsibility  an  exhaustive  study  of  the  time  required  to 
do  various  work  connected  with  the  building  trades.  In 
six  years  he  made  a  complete  study  of  eight  of  the  most 
important:  excavation,  masonry,  bricklaying  (including 
sewer- work  and  paving),  carpentry,  concrete  and  cement 
work,  lathing  and  plastering,  slating  and  roofing,  and  rock 
quarrying. 

Thompson's  method  is  to  split  up  jobs  as  a  whole  into 
very  minute  elements.  Complicated  mathematical  formulas 
tell  him  just  how  long  it  should  take  under  various  condi- 
tions to  throw  a  single  shovelful  of  earth.  Likewise,  the 
number  of  seconds  required  to  dump  a  wheel-barrow,  to 
walk  one  foot,  to  drive  one  nail,  to  place  one  cleat,  and  to 
do  a  thousand  other  things,  are  all  obtained  by  stop-watch 
analysis  and  carefully  recorded.  As  a  result,  a  contractor 
can  estimate  much  more  exactly  than  under  the  old  system 
how  much  it  will  cost  to  complete  a  given  work,  and  a 
foreman  can  hold  his  men  responsible  for  a  full  day's 
task. 

While  the  prime  object  of  Thompson's  work  has  been 
the  effective  handling  of  men  and  the  accurate  estimation 
of  costs,  his  studies  have  incidentally  increased  the  effi- 
ciency of  effort 

In  connection  with  the  making  of  forms  [in  concrete  con- 
struction], for  example,  it  was  found  by  time  study  that  a 
certain  type  of  hammer  was  better  than  any  other.  It  was 
found  that  a  certain  method  of  erecting  the  forms  was  con- 
siderably cheaper  than  any  other  plan.  It  was  found  that  the 
number  and  size  of  nails,  which  ordinarily  varied  with  each 
individual  carpenter,  could  be  fixed  by  definite  standards  to 
avoid  waste  in  time  and  materials.  It  was  found  that  there 
were  certain  methods  of  handling  the  lumber  which  were 
cheaper  than  any  other  way.  It  was  shown  by  actual  figures 


I08  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [382 

how  much  saving  could  be  accomplished  by  furnishing  labor- 
ers to  do  all  of  the  heavy  work  so  that  the  carpenters  could 
stick  to  their  job  of  carpentry.  1 

Thompson  is  credited  by  Taylor  with  having  developed 
in  the  course  of  his  studies  implements  for  taking  observa- 
tions which  are  in  many  respects  the  best  in  use.  He  was 
the  man  immediately  in  charge  of  the  motion-study  analysis 
of  bicycle-ball  inspection  in  the  plant  of  the  Symonds  Roll- 
ing Machine  Company.  He  is  now  in  private  practice  as  a 
consulting  engineer  making  a  specialty  of  concrete  and  re- 
inforced concrete  design,  construction,  and  tests.  His  chief 
works  are:  Concrete,  Plain  and  Reinforced  (1905),  and 
Concrete  Costs  (1911),  both  written  jointly  with  Taylor. 

7.    FRANK    B.    GILBRETH 

Of  Frank  B.  Gilbreth  and  Harrington  Emerson  —  the 
last  men  whose  work  we  will  discuss  in  detail — it  may  be 
said  that,  with  the  possible  exception  of  Frederick  W.  Tay- 
lor, they  have  been  far  more  successful  than  any  others  in 
turning  towards  scientific  management  the  interest  of  the 
general  public.2 

Gilbreth  was  born  in  1868,  completed  his  formal  educa- 
tion with  graduation  from  the  English  High  School  of 
Boston  in  1885,  went  into  business,  and  in  the  course  of 
time  became  established  as  a  successful  contracting  engineer 
engaged  in  large-scale  undertakings.  Between  1895  an<3 
1904  his  main  office  was  in  Boston;  since  1904,  in  New 
York  City.  It  was  not  until  about  1906  3  that,  having 

1  Sanford  E.  Thompson,  "  Time-Study  and  Task  Work,"  in  Journal 
of  Political  Economy,  May,  1913,  p.  380. 

8  The  most  successful  of  the  scientific-management  men.  Mr.  Bran- 
deis'  all-important  role  should  not  be  forgotten. 

3  In  July,  1910,  Mr.  Taylor  spoke  of  the  date  as  being  "  some  four 
years"  earlier. 


383]  LIVES  OF  THE  LEADERS  IOO/ 

read  Taylor's  papers  on  "Shop  Management"  and  "On  the 
Art  of  Cutting  Metals,"  and  having  conferred  with  their 
author  personally,  Gilbreth  made  his  first  attempt  in  the 
field  of  scientific  management.  This  consisted  in  a  reor- 
ganization of  bricklaying,  an  undertaking  whose  brilliant 
execution  was  to  win  for  him  a  national  reputation  and  to 
constitute  with  his  later  work  one  of  the  most  fascinating 
chapters  in  the  history  of  scientific  management. 

Gilbreth,  following  in  the  footsteps  of  all  other  scientific- 
management  leaders,  incorporated  in  his  fully-developed 
bricklaying  system  an  ingenious  provision  by  which  the 
number  of  bricks  laid  by  each  man  might  be  easily  calcu- 
lated ;  he  provided  that  those  individuals  who  should  come 
up  to  a  certain  high  standard  should  receive  wages  25  or 
30  per  cent  higher  than  the  wages  common  among  other 
bricklayers  in  the  vicinity. 

But  it  should  be  stated  at  the  outset  that  the  real  em- 
phasis in  Gilbreth's  scientific  management,  and  that  which 
from  first  to  last  has  given  to  it  its  distinctive  note,  is 
on  constructive  motion  study  —  that  is,  the  scientific  anal- 
ysis of  the  motions  that  go  into  work,  with  the  idea  of 
eliminating  avoidable  effort.  We  have  seen  that  the  orig- 
inal object  of  Taylor,  Thompson,  and  most  of  the  others 
was  to  discover  how  much  men  could  do  if  they  tried, 
and  that  their  development  of  new  methods  of  work, 
though  important,  was  incidental.  In  the  paragraphs  that 
follow,  we  shall  see  that  of  Gilbreth  it  would  be  more  fit- 
ting to  say  that  he  started  out  in  the  first  place  with  the 
object  of  devising  new  and  better  methods,  and  that  his 
introduction  of  management  features  like  the  task  and 
bonus  was  chiefly  to  secure  obedience  to  directions.' 

To  present  some  of  the  more  salient  motion  and  fatigue- 
saving  features  of  the  Gilbreth  system  of  bricklaying,  it 
may  be  noted  in  the  first  place  that  the  obvious  waste  of 


HO  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [384 

making  a  man  bend  over,  and  then  raise  the  weight  of  his 
body,  every  time  he  has  to  pick  up  a  brick  —  a  thousand 
times  or  more  a  day — was  eliminated  by  arranging  adjust- 
able scaffolds  and  so  piling  up  the  brick  that  there  would 
be  between  the  body  of  the  workman,  the  height  of  the 
wall,  and  the  height  of  the  brick  supply  and  mortar-box, 
just  that  relation  which  would  permit  the  easiest,  most 
upright  work.  In  the  second  place,  there  was  taken  away 
from  the  high-priced  bricklayers  and  turned  over  to  low- 
priced  laborers  the  simple  work  of  arranging  the  bricks 
with  their  top-sides  up.  Gilbreth  tells  us  that  the  top  of  a 
hand-made  brick  is  always  a  little  wider  and  rougher  than 
the  bottom,  and  that  under  ordinary  systems  the  bricklayer 
"flops"  each  brick  over  in  his  hand  a  time  or  two  to  make 
sure  which  is  the  right  side.  This  operation  was  elimi- 
nated under  the  new  system,  for  the  bricks  were  properly 
arranged  by  the  low-priced  helpers  on  "  packets  "  holding 
eighteen  x  each,  so  that  they  might  be  easily  grabbed  by 
the  craftsman  and  inserted  without  examination  into  the 
wall.  Thirdly,  it  may  be  noted  that  the  mortar  was  tem- 
pered so  carefully  that  the  bricks  could  be  thrust  into  place 
by  a  simple  shove  and  without  the  usual  tap  of  the  trowel. 
In  the  above,  as  well  as  in  many  other  ways,  the  work 
of  bricklaying  was  so  simplified  that  the  eighteen  motions 
formerly  thought  necessary  to  place  a  brick  were  reduced 
to  four  and  a  half,  and  indeed  in  one  case  to  two.  Those 
which  remained  were  made  as  simple  and  effective  as 
thorough  study  could  make  them.  The  final  result  was  that 
Gilbreth's  men,  who  had  formerly  worked  to  their  limit  to 
lay  1000  bricks  a  day,  were  able  after  a  short  period  of  in- 
struction to  reach  a  daily  output  of  2,700.  Gilbreth  erected 
a  number  of  buildings  in  accordance  with  this  plan,  and 

1  Eighteen  bricks  weigh  about  ninety-two  pounds,  which,  it  was  dis- 
covered at  Bethlehem,  constitute  a  laborers  most  efficient  load. 


385]  LIVES  OF  THE  LEADERS  IZI 

still  holds  patents  covering  several  of  the  mechanical  fea- 
tures. 

Not  long  after  the  perfection  of  the  system,  however,  its 
irfventor  abandoned  the  contracting  business  altogether,  and 
began  to  turn  his  entire  energy  towards  introducing  scien- 
tific management  into  factories.  The  best  example  of  what 
Gilbreth  has  accomplished  along  this  new  line  is  afforded 
by  the  New  England  Butt  Company,  a  concern  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  of  rope-making  machinery,  at  Providence, 
Rhode  Island.  The  system  there  installed  may  be  said  to 
be  patterned  after  that  in  use  in  the  plant  of  the  Tabor 
Manufacturing  Company,  differing  from  the  latter  chiefly 
in  the  greater  attention  that  has  been  given  to  contriving 
many  small  conveniences  which  lighten  the  work.  We 
need,  therefore,  not  describe  Gilbreth's  methods  in  detail, 
but  will  present  only  those  features  which  are  his  own  dis- 
tinct contribution  to  management  technique.  He  has  made 
two  notable  contributions,  of  which  the  first  is  micro- 
motion  study. 

Prior  to  the  introduction  of  micro-motion  study,  the  best 
instrument  available  for  timing  motions  was  the  stop  watch. 
But  there  is  a  certain  limit  of  refinement  beyond  which  it 
is  impossible  to  split  up  motions  by  this  method.  By  timing 
a  repeated  sequence,  so  that  first  one  group  of  motions  is 
included  and  then  another,  it  is  indeed  possible  to  obtain 
accurate  records  of  intervals  of  time,  too*  fleeting  to  be 
measured  by  themselves.  Nevertheless,  the  system  is  not 
convenient  for  the  effective  analysis  of  such  operations  as, 
for  instance,  the  folding  of  a  handkerchief.  Accordingly, 
for  work  of  this  character  Gilbreth  uses  a  motion-picture 
apparatus,  including  in  the  field  of  vision  a  large-faced 
clock,  the  rapid  movements  of  whose  hands  record  very 
minute  subdivisions  of  a  minute.  Behind  the  subject  is  a 
network  of  lines  spaced  at  regular  distances  as  on  a  cross- 


112  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [385 

section  paper,  against  which  as  a  background  the  dimen- 
sions of  a  motion  can  be  read  off.  After  the  record  has 
been  obtained,  it  is  possible  to  go  over  the  film  with  a  mag- 
nify ing-glass,  and  decide  at  leisure  just  how  long  and  oveY 
exactly  what  space  exceedingly  rapid  motions  have  ex* 
tended.  Thus  even  in  the  case  of  the  nimblest  work,  the 
micro-motion-study  expert  can  detect  false  motions,  and  tell 
the  worker  which  of  his  various  ways  of  working  are  the 
most  efficient.  The  'invention  is  more  brilliant  than  widely 
applicable,  and  up  to  ji  recent  date  has  received  more  atten- 
tion in  the  magazines  than  in  the  workshop. 

By  a  later  invention  of  Gilbreth's,  also  tried  out  at  the 
New  England  Butt  Company's  plant,  a  record  of  the  path 
of  a  motion  is  made  on  a  photographic  plate  by  fastening 
a  small  electric  bulb  on  the  subject's. finger.  By  using  a 
stereoscopic  camera,  space  in  three  dimensions  is  shown; 
by  making  the  bulb  flash  light  only  at  regular  intervals,  the 
path  becomes  a  succession  of  dots,  which  indicate  the  time 
consumed. 

In  conclusion :  We  have  seen  that  the  special  field  of  Gil- 
breth  is  not  the  solving  of  engineering  and  other  technical 
problems  of  manufacturing,  nor  is  he  interested  primarily 
in  systems  of  management,  but  his  stronghold  is  construc- 
tive motion  study.  Into  the  study  of  this  latter  subject  he 
has  thrown  himself  with  all  the  ardor  of  a  strenuous  naturej 
and,  not  limiting  himself  to  those  "  bread  and  butter " 
achievements  that  bring  immediate  financial  results,  he  has 
striven  to  apply  motion  study  to  all  manner  of  activities.J 
Thus,  in  New  York  hospitals  he  attempted  a  micro-motion- 
study  analysis  of  surgical  operations;  and  again  we  learn 
that  he  is  investigating  the  muscular  activity  that  underlies 
the  "  singing  tone  "  of  the  skilled  musician.  Indeed,  the 
elaborateness  of  Gilbreth's  methods  and  the  restlessness  of 
his  ambition  proclaim  the  appearance  of  the  scientist  in  a 


387]  LIVES  OF  THE  LEADERS 

profession  where  most  men  would  say  that  commercial    / 
considerations  alone  should  n  " 

Among  Gilbreth's  t  •Ujut^/  System  (1908), 

Concrete  System  (i9oB  .•••fc.Sjwtfm  (1909).       \ 

Motion  Study  (1911)^^  ^^ — *  -* ^ 

interesting  points  of  viei 
Management  (1912)   contaH 
this  system  that  has  yet 

8.    HARRINGT( 

In  the  case  of  each 
considered,  the  original  ii 
management  was  derived  without  qt 
Frederick  Winslow.  Taylor.     When,  howi 
the  career  o-f  Harrington  Emerson,  we  pass  'from  thi 
mediate  Taylor  group,  and  find  ourselves  in  the  pres< 
of  a  man  who  has  been  under  more  complex  influences.! 

Harrington  Emerson,  the  son  of  a  professor  of  politil 
economy,  was  born  in  Trenton,  New  Jersey,  but  spent, 
youth  in  Europe.  It  is  to  French  character,  and  to  German 
military  efficiency  as  evidenced  before  his  eyes  in  the  con- 
duct of  the  Franco-Prussian  war,  that  Emerson  attributes 
his  present  strongest  ideal — the  setting  of  precise  standards. 
His  admiration  for  systematic  method  and  perfect  cooper- 
ation was  further  strengthened  by  studies  under  a  Euro- 
pean music-teacher,  by  observation  of  the  remarkable  re- 
sults obtained  by  breeders  of  fine  hor^^m^>y  contact 
with  A.  B.  StQith,  a  skilful 

Emerson's  earlier  efforts  inTthe 

management  were  in  railway  shops — his  entry  into  the  pro- 
fession of  reorganizing  miscellaneous  industrial  plants 
being  a  later  development.  He^lls  us  *  that  in  1895  he 

1  Correspondence  dated  Sept.  27,  1913. 


114  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [388 

"  began  a  series  of  rapid  surveys  of  American  industrial 
plants,  determining  what  their  prodpct  and  costs  were  com- 
pared to  what  they  ought  to  .J)e.  In  1900  [he]  checked  up 
minutely  the  losses/occurring  in  the  use  of  materials.  In 
10,02  [he]  planned; 's£he;dulg£i  and  despatched  work  through 
a,  Jarge  factory,"..,  'pf  all  Emerson's  undertakings,  how- 
e?flrr,  .that  which  Jias,;  atfracted  the  most  attention  was  his 
'  b'ettermeait*  .work "  introduced  into  the  shops  of  the 
during-  TOree  years  beginning  in  1904,  a 
treat  briefly  in  the  next  chapter.  He 
system  partially*,  though  in  no  instance 
2Oor  different  plants  from  Alaska  to 
Louisiana  to  Canada,  from  Southern  Cali- 
to  Maine."  l  At  present  his  activity  is  carried  on 
through  the  Emerson  Company,  an  organization  which 
frpploys  between  thirty  and  forty  efficiency  specialists. 

"To  take  up  Emerson's  distinguishing  characteristics,  in 
the  first  place,  he  calls  his  system  "  efficiency  "  rather  than 
"  scientific  management."  The  distinction,  though  mainly 
one  of  words,  is  not  without  some  significance.  "  Effi- 
ciency "  is  the  relation  between  what  is  accomplished  and 
what  mighLbe  accomplished;  to*  secure  it  one  strives  to 
introduce  theDest  obtainable  methods,  to  compare  produc- 
tivity in  different  plants  and  bring  all  up  to  the  one  highest 
standard.  In  the  case  of  "  scientific  management,"  on  the 
other  hand,  the  emphasis  is  not  so  much  on  producing  goods 
as  cheaply  in  ^Hia. plant  as  in  that  one,  but  rather  the  aim  is 
to  do  weli^jyronf  ari  absolute  viewpoint.  Thus  "  scientific 
managemerS^  friay  mean  creation;  while  "  efficiency  "  con- 
templates simply  a  comparison  of  costs  in  different  plants, 
and  a  choosing  of  the  one  best  system  already  in  use ;  how- 
ever, the  two  ideas,  far , from  being  mutually  exclusive,  are 


1  Correspondence  dated  Sept.  27,  1913. 


389]  LIVES  OF  THE  LEADERS  H5 

but  complementary  aspects  of  the  same  movement,  the  for- 
mer being  invention,  the  latter  application. 

In  the  second  place,  Emerson  opposes  functional  man- 
agement with  its  numerous  heads,  and  substitutes  for  it  the 
"  line  and  staff  "  idea,  under  which  there  is  but  one  boss 
(the  line).  The  functional  experts  (or  staff)  whom  Emer- 
son employs  are  not  executive  officers,  but  simply  advise 
the  single  responsible  authority;  and  it  is  the  latter  who 
puts  all  plans  into  practice  through  command  over  his 
"  line  "  subordinates.  The  idea  is  to  avoid  creating  too 
many  bosses,  and  yet  operate  under  expert  advice. 

In  the  third  place,  Emerson  uses  a  wage  system  which 
bases  remuneration  partly  upon  the  "  efficiency  per  cent " 
of  the  employee.  A  standard  task  is  set  on  the  basis  of 
time-study  analysis,  and  the  workman  who*  just  completes 
the  same  in  the  allotted  time  is  credited  with  100  per  cent 
efficiency.  Efficiency  may  thus  be  reckoned  as  below,  above, 
or  at  100  per  cent.  Although  everyone  receives  his  day  rate, 
which  is  supposed  to  be  a  normal  compensation  when  com- 
pared with  prevailing  wages,  a  man  who  cannot  attain  66.7 
per  cent  efficiency  is  regarded  as  subnormal  and  is  in  danger 
of  discharge.  At  67  per  cent  a  small  bonus  is  paid,  which 
grows  in  size  until  at  90  per  cent  efficiency  it  reaches  10 
per  cent.  Above  this  point  one  per  cent  in  bonus  is  added 
for  each  additional  one  per  cent  gain  in  efficiency.  Emer- 
son has  thus  developed  a  wage  system  which  is  in  its  results 
practically  the  same  as  Gantt's  "  task  and  bonus  "  plan, 
except  that  under  the  Gantt  system  no  bonus  is  paid  until 
a  man  comes  up  to  standard  performance,  in  the  hope  that 
the  large  increase  then  suddenly  granted  will  bring  all  up 
to  a  common  productivity. 

In  general,  Emerson's  methods  are  flexible,  rather  than 
stereotyped ;  his  time  studies  and  standards  are  approximate 
rather  than  exhaustively  exact;  and  he  relies  much  on  the 


1 1 6  SCIENTIFIC  MAN  A  CEMENT 

self -direction  of  his  subordinates.  His  company  strives  for 
the  big  gains  that  may  be  easily  attained,  and  will  accept  a 
hurry  order  if  funds  for  complete  reorganization  are  lack- 
ing. 

Harrington  Emerson  is  nearly  three  years  older  than 
Frederick  W.  Taylor;  he  did  not  meet  the  latter  until  com- 
paratively late  (probably  not  much  before  1900)  /  and  the 
two  never  worked  together.2  Emerson  was  present,  how- 
ever, when  Taylor's  "Shop  Management"  was  read,  in  1903, 
and  has  done  almost  all  of  his  mature  work  in  the  light  (if 
he  chose  to  use  it)  of  that  exposition.  As  regards  his  gen- 
eral thought,  we  have  seen  that  Emerson  has  received 
stimuli  from  many  sources ;  but  as  concerns  the  application 
of  efficiency  to  industrial  plants,  there  is  good  ground  for 
believing  that  he  is  much  more  deeply  indebted  to  Taylor 
than  to  any  other.  Indeed,  men  well  acquainted  with  both 
have  told  us  that  Emerson  was  once  accustomed  to  refer 
to  Taylor  as  the  source  of  his  ideas :  Taylor  he  regarded 
as  trying  to  do  too  much,  as  being  in  advance  of  his  time ; 
it  was  he,  Emerson,  who,  by  rendering  lofty  projects 
more  practical,  was  able  to  achieve  results.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  Emerson  has  brought  into 
the  field  a  great  deal  of  original  force.  He  may  have 
adopted  some  of  Taylor's  ideas;  but  if  so,  his  conduct  is 
similar  to  the  appropriation  which  every  man  makes  of  any 
scheme  that  appeals  to  him  as  useful ;  and  beyond  this,  he 
has  at  the  same  time  combined  them  with  so  many  ideas 
derived  from  other  sources  that  his  resulting  philosophical 

1  In  1912  Emerson  referred  to  his  introduction  to  Taylor  as  having 
occurred  some  ten  years  earlier.  However  it  must  have  been  at  least 
twelve  years,  as  he  writes  of  a  conversation  which  occurred  between 
them  in  1900. 

*  Some  members  of  the  present  Taylor  group  started  under  Emerson 
—as  F.  A.  Parkhurst.  We  know  of  an  active  engineer,  formerly  with 
Emerson,  who  tells  us  that  he  now  follows  Gantt's  methods. 


39 1 ]  LIVES  OF  THE  LEADERS  H^ 

system  is  a  truly  original  contribution  to  the  subject.  Cer- 
tainly in  his  books  he  has  expressed  himself  in  a  way  which 
is  in  many  respects  far  more  effective  than  the  style  of  the 
other  scientific-management  or  efficiency  men. 

In  fact,  Emerson  has  done  more  than  any  other  single 
man  to  popularize  the  subject  of  scientific  management. 
His  statement  that  the  railroads  could  save  $1,000,000  a 
day  by  introducing  efficiency  methods  was  the  keynote 
which  started  the  present  interest  in  the  subject.  His  books, 
Efficiency  (a  reprint  in  1911  of  periodical  contributions  of 
1908  and  1909),  and  The  Twelve  Principles  of  Efficiency 
(1912),  taken  with  his  magazine  articles  and  addresses, 
have  perhaps  done  more  than  anything  else  to  make  "  effi- 
ciency "  a  household  word. 

9.    THE  SCIENTIFIC-MANAGEMENT  MEN  AS  A  BODY 

As  regards  the  other  scientific-management  men,  atten- 
tion should  at  least  be  called  to  Frederick  A.  Parkhurst, 
author  of  Applied  Methods  of  Scientific  Management',  to 
Dr.  Hollis  Godfrey,  scientist  and  contributor  to  the  Atlantic 
Monthly,  now  president  of  Drexel  Institute;  to  Dwight  V. 
Merrick,  declared  by  one  well-informed  authority  to  be  at 
present  the  most  skilled  expert  in  time  study,  who  at  one 
time  worked  for  the  Link-Belt  Company,  then  assisted 
Carl  G.  Earth  install  scientific  management  in  the  Water- 
town  Arsenal,  and  is  now  with  the  H.  H.  Franklin  Manu- 
facturing Company;  to  Charles  Day,  of  Day  &  Zimmer- 
man, prominent  consulting  engineers  of  Philadelphia,  the 
author  of  Industrial  Plants',  to  C.  J.  Morrison,  formerly 
with  Harrington  Emerson,  but  now  of  the  firm  of  Frog- 
gatt,  Morrison  &  Company,  which  firm  has  introduced  the 
methods  of  scientific  management  into  some  thirty-two 
plants;  to  Henry  V.  Sheel,  of  the  Brighton  mills;  to  Henry 
P.  Kendall,  of  the  Plimpton  Press;  to  William  Kent,  and 


Il8  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [392 

Robert  T.  Kent,  consulting  engineers  and  editors  of  In- 
dustrial Engineering-,  and  to  Charles  W.  Mixter,  who 
claims  to  have  offered  the  first  college  work  on  scientific 
management  some  seven  or  eight  years  ago,  and  who  has 
more  recently  entered  the  active  work.  Among  the  promi- 
nent manufacturers  who  have  taken  up  the  scientific-man- 
agement movement,  two  in  particular  are  men  of  distinc- 
tion: Henry  R.  Towne,  president  of  the  Yale  &  Towne 
Manufacturing  Company,  and  James  M.  Dodge,  president 
of  the  board  of  directors  of  the  Link-Belt  Company. 

To  put  the  strength  of  the  scientific-management  move- 
ment in  more  definite  terms:  We  may  first  note  that  the 
Society  for  the  Promotion  of  the  Science  of  Management, 
whose  membership  is  practically  a  roll  of  the  leading  Tay- 
lor men,  numbers  about  seventy-five.  Again,  the  Efficiency 
Society  Incorporated  started  to  compile  a  list  of  all  the 
men  professionally  engaged  in  reorganizing  industrial  en- 
terprises; and  this  roll  had  at  our  last  count  reached  one 
hundred  and  eighty.  As  this  list  made  no  pretense  of  being 
complete — in  fact,  some  very  prominent  names  had  not  yet 
been  placed  upon  it — it  is  probable  that  the  actual  number 
of  persons  whose  entire  time  is  devoted  to  introducing 
some  type  of  "  efficiency  "  is  very  much  greater  than  one 
hundred  and  eighty.  If,  finally,  there  be  added  in,  all  the 
factory  managers  who  are  trying  to  introduce  improved 
methods  for  themselves,  the  extent  of  the  broader  scien- 
tific-management movement  is  seen  to  be  bordering  on  the 
immeasurable. 

While  many  of  this  larger  group  are  only  ordinary  in 
ability,  and  probably  lack  knowledge  as  to  what  scientific 
management  really  is,  one  is  safe  in  saying  that,  at  the 
fountain-head  at  least,  the  system  is  represented  by  earnest 
and  capable  men ;  the  sketches  which  have  been  given  above 
prove  this.  But  if  further  proof  be  needed,  it  is  only  nee- 


393 ]  LIVES  OF  THE  LEADERS 

essary  to  point  out  that  three  of  the  leaders  in  the  scientific- 
management  movement  have  been  presidents  of  the  Amer- 
ican Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers  (Taylor,  Towne,  and 
Dodge),  and  that,  conversely,  many  of  the  most  active 
officers  and  committeemen  of  that  organization  are  iden- 
tified with,  and  throw  their  influence  in  favor  of  these  new 
industrial  ideas.  Perhaps  no  other  tribunal  in  America 
could  by  its  approval  add  more  prestige — at  least  as  far  as 
manufacturing  technique  is  concerned — to  the  standing  of 
scientific  management. 

Such  is  the  size  and  character  of  the  scientific-manage- 
ment movement.  In  the  next  chapter  we  shall  endeavor  to 
ascertain  to  what  extent  the  movement  has  to  date  altered 
the  industrial  world. 


CHAPTER  V 

A  SURVEY  OF  THE  TRADES  AND  PLANTS  IN  WHICH  SCIEN- 
TIFIC MANAGEMENT  HAS  BEEN  INTRODUCED 

I.  THE  PRESENT  STATUS  OF  THE  HISTORIC  ILLUSTRATIONS 
OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

a.  The  Midvale  Steel  Company 

AT  the  birthplace  of  scientific  management,  and  the  seat 
of  its  development  from  1882  to  1889,  the  system  is  said 
to  have  remained  static  since  Frederick  W.  Taylor  left  in 
the  latter  year;  and  though  the  ideas  which  constituted  it 
in  the  eighties  are  still  being  applied,  and,  it  is  said, 
•nore  successfully  than  ever  before,  Midvale  has  adopted 
none  of  the  later  features  which  have  made  the  old  scien- 
tific management  seem  but  fragmentary.  Midvale  is  one 
of  America's  three  great  armor  plate-making  plants,  and 
produces  heavy  forgings  of  many  types. 

b.  The  Bethlehem  Steel  Company 

Turning  next  to  an  examination  of  what  has  happened 
at  Bethlehem,  where  innovations  were  made  which  were 
advertised  for  a  decade — if  not  until  the  present  time — as 
the  most  striking  proof  of  what  scientific  management  can 
accomplish,  it  may  be  said  that  the  references  all  date  back 
to  work  which  was  done  between  1898  and  1901,  or  at  the 
very  latest,  1902.  This  is  because  the  system  installed 
there  met  with  the  disapproval  of  Charles  M.  Schwab  when 
he  came  into  control  of  the  plant  in  September,  1901 ; 
120  [394 


395]  A  SURVEY  OF  TRADES  AND  PLANTS  I2i 

Taylor  had  at  this  time  already  retired;   Earth  left  the 
same  year,  and  Gantt  in  1902. 

The  status  of  scientific  management  at  Bethlehem  since 
1901  is  a  controverted  matter.  The  present  owners  say 
that  they  have  rid  themselves  of  Taylor  and  his  ideas,  and 
declare  in  their  irritation  that  they  "don't  want  to  hear 
anything  more  about  scientific  management."  Gantt  and 
his  associates  grow  equally  warm  in  expressing  their  views. 
They  accuse  Schwab  of  being  an  irreclaimable  "  driver  "•; 
they  say  that  though  he  pretended  to  repudiate  the  whole 
of  their  system,  he  really  continued  to  enforce  those  fea- 
tures which  aim  to  bring  production  up  to  the  maximum, 
divorcing  from  the  system,  however,  its  essential  principles 
of  liberal  pay  and  fair  treatment.  This  policy,  according 
to  Taylor,  did  not  work  well :  Although  at  first  an  attempt 
was  made  to  do  away  with  bonuses,  "  at  the  end  of  the 
month  (so  the  foreman  and  the  men  told  [Taylor]),  Mr. 
Schwab  was  [all  too]  glad  to  put  the  premium  back  again, 
because  the  product  of  the  shop  had  dropped  to  about  one- 
half."  In  spite  of  such  warnings,  Gantt  says,2  Mr. 
Schwab  continued  to  debase  scientific-management's  better 
ideals  regarding  the  treatment  of  workmen,  until  there 
came  the  great  strike  of  1910.  Though  Schwab  is  thus 
alleged  to  have  wandered  away  from  certain  of  the  teach- 
ings of  scientific  management,  it  is  claimed  that  on  the 
whole  his  plant  has  retained  the  important  features  of  the 
system.  Thus  we  meet  with  conflicting  testimony:  that 
of  the  Bethlehem  management  that  Taylor  and  his  system 
have  been  "  kicked  out,"  and  that  of  some  of  the  opposing 

1  Testimony  of  Taylor,  Hearings  before  Special  Committee  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  to  Investigate  the  Taylor  and  Other  Systems 
of  Shop  Management,  p.  1506. 

2  Work',  Wages  and  Profits,  p.  107. 


122  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [396 

/ 

party,  who  have  revisited  the  works,  and  say  that  its  essen- 
tials are  in  operation. 

Without  venturing  to  pass  judgment  as  to  the  truth  of 
the  charges  against  Mr.  Schwab,  there  is  good  reason  for 
believing  that  a  considerable  portion  of  scientific  manage- 
ment is  to-day  imbeded  in  the  Bethlehem  organization. 
Our  authority  is  no  other  than  a  statement  issued  by  the 
Bethlehem  Steel  Company  itself,  and  constituting  Appen- 
dix C  of  a  Government  Report  on  Strike  at  Bethlehem 
Steel  Works?  prepared  after  the  1910  trouble.  This  state- 

>.  ment  carefully  explains  that  in  its  machine  shops  the  time 
required  to  perform  each  operation  entering  into  the  work 

"is  determined  by  "  observation  "  [elementary  time  study] ; 
that  on  the  basis  of  this  "  standard  information  "  a  "  man 
in  charge  of  the  rating "  allows  a  proper  time  for  the 
completion  of  each  individual  job  [task-setting] ;  and  that 
for  success  a  bonus  of  20  per  cent  above  a  fair  day  rate  is 
given,  while  if  the  task  be  completed  in  less  than  the  stand- 
ard time,  the  gain  is  shared  equally  between  the  company 
and  the  workman  [the  Gantt  "  task  and  bonus  "  system, 
except  that  the  Gantt  plan  gives  all  the  gain  to  the  work- 
man]. Finally,  there  is  displayed  a  "work  slip"  [instruc- 
tion card]  which  with  its  detailed  enumeration  of  opera- 
tions, directions  as  to  regulation  of  machine,*£fc.,  looks  for 
all  the  world  as  though  it  might  have  come  out  of  Taylor's 
"  Shop  Management"  Now,  the  Bethlehem  Steel  Com- 
pany has  doubtless  made  changes  during  the  last  fourteen 
years;  but  the  above-outlined  statement  certainly  shows 
that,  in  the  machine  shops  at  least,  their  advancement  has 
not  carried  them  away  from  the  general  principles  laid 
down  by  Taylor,  Gantt,  and  Barth. 

As  to  the  fate  of  the  novel  Bethlehem  experiments  in 

1  Sen.  Doc.  no.  521,  61  C.,  2  S. 


397]  A  SURVEY  OF  TRADES  AND  PLANTS 

scientific  pig-iron  handling  and  shoveling,1  the  insight 
given  by  the  contents  of  the  last  paragraph  dispose  one  to 
credit  the  assertion  of  Taylor  that  as  a  matter  of  fact 
"  they  are  still  carting  around  forty  tons  of  pig  iron  a  day 
at  Bethlehem  "  (his  way  of  roughly  indicating  that  the 
output  is  still  approximating  47%  instead  of  i2l/2  tons)  ; 
and  to  accept  as  a  correct  explanation  his  further  state- 

1  The  "science"  of  shoveling  being  one  of  the  most  interesting  dis- 
coveries of  the  Bethlehem  period,  and  not  having  come  in  for  description 
before,  it  may  be  explained  here  that  among  its  fundamentals  are  the 
selection  of  large  scoops  for  the  handling  of  light,  and  small  shovels 
for  the  handling  of  heavy  materials,  so  that  the  load  will  for  every 
class  of  work  approximate  twenty-one  pounds,  which  load  experiment 
has  shown  to  be  the  most  efficient.  Studies  were  made  of  the  relative 
advantages  of  earth,  wood,  and  iron  surfaces  underneath  the  pile. 
Workmen  were  instructed  in  the  best  way  of  pushing  in  their  shovels, 
.  etc.  The  time  required  to  throw  to  any  given  height  or  distance  was 
brought  under  a  formula,  and  tasks  were  set,  based  upon  these  dis- 
tances and  the  laws  of  human  endurance.  A  personal  record  was  kept 
of  the  work  of  each  man,  and  for  standard  performance  individuals 
were  given  substantial  bonuses,  so  that  the  average  earnings  for  all  of 
the  men  rose  about  60  per  cent  (from  $1.15  to  $1.88).  That  no  time 
might  be  lost  through  having  too  many  men  in  one  place  and  too  few 
in  another,  or  through  waiting  between  jobs,  a  central  office  was  es- 
tablished from  which  "  every  laborer's  work  was  planned  out  well  in 
advance,  and  the  workmen  were  all  moved  from  place  to  place  by  the 
clerks  with  elaborate  diagrams  or  maps  of  the  yard  before  them." 
The  results  claimed  for  this  system  were  a  reduction  of  the  force  of 
yard  laborers  from  between  400  and  600  to  140,  an  increase  in  the 
average  number  of  tons  handled  per  man  per  day  from  16  to  59,  and 
(Taylor  assures  us)  beneficial  effects  on  the  workmen.  The  net  sav- 
ings for  the  third  year,  after  including  in  the  costs  "the  office  and 
tool-room  expenses,  and  the  wages  of  all  labor  superintendents,  fore- 
men, clerks,  time-study  men,  etc.,  are  placed  at  $36,400,  "and  during 
the  six  months  following,  when  all  of  the  work  of  the  yard  was  on 
task  work,  the  saving  was  at  the  rate  of  between  $75,000  and  $80,000 
per  year."  (Principles  of  Scientifice  Management,  p.  71.)  According 
to  Taylor's  testimony  before  the  Industrial  Relations  Commission, 
1900  observations  were  made  covering  the  shoveling  of  a  single  kind 
of  material. 


124  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [398 

ment  that,  while  he  himself  has  not  been  back  at  Bethlehem, 
others  who  have  say  that  shoveling  is  still  carried  on 
according  to  his  methods.1 

If  it  should  happen  that  we  have  reached  an  unwarranted 
conclusion,  and  the  remnants  of  scientific  management  at 
Bethlehem  are  indeed  unimportant,  even  then  it  would  still 
be  true  that  the  historical  movements  which  occurred  there 
have  a  present-day  standing.  In  that  case  it  could  be 
pointed  out  that  the  system  there  developed  for  machine 
shops  has  since  been  incorporated,  along  with  new  ideas, 
in  other  plants.  Whether  or  not  shoveling  is  now  per- 
formed "  scientifically  "  at  Bethlehem,  the  art,  Taylor  as- 
sured us,  has  certainly  been  introduced  elsewhere.  For  in- 
stance, glimpses  of  it  are  caught  in  the  reports  of  General 
Crozier  on  the  Watertown  Arsenal.  Finally,  to  illustrate 
the  subtle  manner  in  which  scientific-management  ideas 
may  be  transferred  to  new  soil,  data  developed  in  the  pig- 
iron  work  concerning  the  laws  of  human  endurance  have 
been  applied  to  bricklaying. 

The  investment  in  the  Bethlehem  Steel  Company,  includ- 
ing capital,  funded  debt,  and  surplus,  is  given  in  the  Gov- 
ernment report  referred  to  above,  as  over  $40,000,000,  the 
normal  number  of  employees  as  about  8,300,  The  com- 
pany manufactures  gun  forgings,  marine  and  general  en- 
gine forgings,  and  heavy  machinery  and  ordnance  of  every 
description. 

c.  Bicycle-B all-Bearing  Inspection 

A  different  fate  befell  scientific  management  in  the  works 
of  the  Symonds  Rolling  Machine  Company,  of  Fitchburg, 
Massachusetts,  where  during  the  bicycle  craze  more  bicycle 

1  The  statement  in  regard  to  shoveling  was  made  direct  to  the  writer ; 
the  assertion  in  regard  to  pig-iron  handling  was  made  through  a  third 
party. 


399]  A  SURVEY  OF  TRADES  AND  PLANTS 

ball  bearings  were  manufactured  than  in  any  other  shop  in 
the  United  States :  the  concern  is  no  longer  in  existence. 
Although  we  are  told  that  not  much  scientific  management 
was  introduced  in  this  place,  considerable  publicity  was 
given  to  the  study  of  bicycle-ball  inspection — as  referred 
to  in  an  earlier  passage.1 

d.  Bricklaying 

Since  Gilbreth  left  the  contracting  business,  it  is  not 
known  that  his  bricklaying  methods  are  being  applied  any- 
where in  their  entirety.  He  has  noted,  however,  the  use  by 
others  of  various  isolated  features  of  his  system — for  in- 
stance, the  "  packet  "  idea  in  carrying  bricks. 

While  the  Gilbreth  methods  were  in  operation,  they  were 
hailed  as  the  great  example  of  cooperation  between  scien- 
tific management  and  the  unions.  Being  himself  a  member 
of  the  Boston  bricklayers'  union,  Gilbreth  declared  that  he 
had  after  some  difficulty  overcome  scruples  about  piece- 
work by  paying  the  men  a  straight  day  rate,  and  then 
giving  a  bonus  for  reaching  a  certain  high  output.  It 
should  be  noted  that  this  cooperation  was  never  in  the 
form  of  a  definite  agreement. 

It  is  believed  by  some  that  Gilbreth  abandoned  the  con- 
tracting business  because  this  friendly  relationship  came  to 
an  end,  that  there  were  strikes,  etc.  The  actual  extent  of 
trouble  of  this  kind  seems  to  have  been  a  two-days'  mix-up 
at  Hudson  Falls,  New  York,  which  proved  to  have  been 
more  of  a  misunderstanding  within  the  labor  organization 
itself  than  an  affair  of  real  seriousness.  A  letter  received 

1  Page  79.  Taylor  had  been  engaged  to  systematize  this  plant,  Gantt 
was  general  superintendent,  and  S.  E.  Thompson  did  the  time-study 
work. 

According  to  C.  Bertrand  Thompson  ("  Scientific  Management  in 
Practice,"  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  Feb.,  1915)  it  was  here 
that  the  system  of  functional  foremen  first  reached  its  full  development. 


126  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [4OO 

from  the  corresponding  secretary  of  one  of  the  two  Boston 
locals,  replying  to  a  request  for  information  on  the  subject, 
speaks  of  no  differences  with  Gilbreth  other  than  the 
union's  refusal  to  allow  the  use  of  the  "fountain  trowel." 
Nevertheless,  labor's  national  leaders,  who  look  forward  to 
the  possible  consequences  growing  out  of  scientific  manage- 
ment, are  undeniably  hostile  to  the  new  bricklaying. 

Gilbreth's  relationship  to  organized  labor  in  the  field  of 
bricklaying  seems,  therefore,  to  have  consisted  in  (i)  the 
convincing  of  individual  union  men  that  it  was  to  their 
interest  to  work  according  to  his  system;  (2)  non-interfer- 
ence on  the  part  of  the  local  organizations;  (3)  moral 
opposition  on  the  part  of  national  leaders;  and  (4)  the  dis- 
appearance of  the  issue  through  Gilbreth's  going  into  a 
more  promising  profession. 

e.  The  Santa  Fe 

In  May,  1904,  because  of  labor  troubles,  Harrington 
Emerson  was  given  the  task  of  reorganizing  a  part  of  the 
Santa  Fe  railway  system.  His  authority  extended  only  to 
that  one  department  known  as  the  motive  power  depart- 
ment; and  he  was,  therefore,  concerned  mainly  with  the 
maintenance  and  repair  of  locomotives,  much  of  which 
work  was  centralized  in  shops  at  Topeka.  Nevertheless, 
by  the  time  Emerson  had  worked  out  from  Topeka  to  the 
end  of  the  10,000  or  so  miles  of  road,  his  system  was  affect- 
ing 12,000  men,  and  he  had  a  task  upon  his  hands  which', 
took  three  years  of  time,  and  the  assistance  of  a  large  staff 
of  railway  experts  (in  1906,  31  were  on  the  work). 

The  cause  of  starting  Emerson's  "  betterment  work," 
as  it  was  officially  called,  having  been  a  strike,  his  first 
and  most  important  aim  was  to  establish  a  basis  for  per- 
manent harmony  by  introducing  an  "  individual  effort  arid 
bonus  system."  Increased  supervision  of  the  men  was  to 


40i]  A  SURVEY  OF  TRADES  AND  PLANTS  I2; 

be  undertaken,  and  for  good  work  special  rewards  were  to 
be  given.  Accordingly,  time  studies  were  made  (about 
4,000  by  December,  1906),  tasks  were  set,  and  bonuses 
offered.  There  were  several  distinguishing  features  which 
marked  this  phase  of  scientific  management  as  it  was  in- 
troduced on  the  Santa  Fe :  j  First,  extreme  emphasis  was 
laid  on  the  individual  character  of  the  relations  of  men  and 
management :  "  The  schedule  is  a  moral  contract  or  agree- 
ment with  the  men  as  to  a  particular  machine  operation, 
rate  of  wages  and  time.  Any  change  in  men  [etc.]  calls  for 
a  new  schedule. "  Second,  there  was  a  lack  of  insistence 
on  the  selection  of  unusual  men :  "  The  standard  time  set 
is  reasonable,  and  one  that  can  be  reached  without  extra- 
ordinary effort;  is,  in  fact,  such  time  as  a  good  foreman 
would  demand."  1  And  third,  bonuses  were  paid  to  fore- 
men. Thus  the  Santa  Fe  management  sought  to  make  of 
its  employees  industrious,  well-paid,  and  loyal  workmen,  v 
But  before  actually  setting  tasks,  it  was  necessary  to 
study  and  standardize  all  tools  and  equipment,  and  this  led 
in  itself  to  important  improvements.  Specially  notable 
was  the  improvement  in  the  care  of  belting,  this  being  taken 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  workmen  and  put  into  those  of 
specialists,  with  a  resulting  saving  of  70  per  cent  in  .the 
expense  of  belt  maintenance.  Perhaps  the  most  interesting 
features  which  Emerson  introduced  were  the  various  rout- 
ing and  scheduling  devices.  All  of  the  work  in.  the  machine 
shop  .was  so  arranged  that  it  could  be  controlled  from  dis- 
patch-boards located  in  a  central  office;  likewise  on  a  bul- 
letin-board was  indicated  the  progress  in  the  repair  of  each 
locomotive.  Most  of  the  other  changes — such  as  the  cen- 
tralization of  work  at  Topeka,  and  the  introduction  of  im- 

1  Statements  of  Harrington  Emerson,  as  printed  in  an  editorial 
write-up  entitled,  "  Betterment  Work  on  the  Santa  Fe,"  American  En- 
gineer and  Railroad  Journal,  Dec.,  1906. 


I2g  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [402 

proved  methods  of  cost  accounting — are  beyond  the  pale 
of  things  which  are  distinctively  "  scientific  management." 

It  is  agreed  that  the  principles  of  scientific  management 
were  only  part  of  them  introduced  on  the  Santa  Fe.  Never- 
theless the  estimated  savings  were  at  the  time  put  at  enor- 
mous figures.  Thus  in  the  article  from  which  the  above 
quotations  were  taken,  its  writer  estimated  from  figures 
contained  in  the  president's  annual  report  that  during  the 
fiscal  year  ending  June  31,  1906,  fully  a  million  and  a 
quarter  of  dollars  were  saved.  Other  critics  were  equally 
enthusiastic,  and  the  work  attracted  a  great  deal  of  atten- 
tion throughout  the  country. 

Since  Emerson's  connection  with  the  Santa  Fe  was  sev- 
ered, there  have  been  those  who  have  said  that  the  value 
of  the  work  was  illusory,  and  that  now,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  entire  structure  has  been  torn  down  by  the  officers  of 
the  company.  Of  this  much  there  can  be  no  doubt,  that 
the  facile  way  in  which  savings  running  into  the  millions 
were  calculated  is  now  recognized  as  unscientific.  We  have 
talked  with  some  of  the  men  who  made  the  original  esti- 
mates, and  they  now  acknowledge  the  impossibility  of  even 
approximately  stating  how  much  the  innovations  were 
worth,  and  indeed  smile  a  little  at  their  own  big  figures. 

As  to  the  status  on  the  Santa  Fe  to-day,  the  two  follow- 
ing quotations,  the  one  from  Harrington  Emerson,  and  the 
other  from  a  present  officer  of  the  company,  contain  on 
the  one  hand  an  implied  admission  that  there  have  been 
more  or  less  important  alterations,  and  on  the  other  hand 
an  acknowledgment  on  the  part  of  the  new  managers  that 
they  have  conserved  much  of  Emerson's  chief  contribu- 
tion. Thus  Emerson  writes : 1 

Since  that  time  [his  withdrawal  six  years  before]  there  has 
1  Correspondence  dated  Sept.  27,  1913. 


403]  A  SURVEY  OF  TRADES  AND  PLANTS  I2g 

been  a  change  in  vice-presidents,  two  changes  in  superinten- 
dent of  motive  power,  and  not  one  of  my  original  group  of 
assistants  is  left.  Nevertheless  much  of  the  work  remains. 
About  60,000  work  schedules  were  made  out  and  bonus  to 
the  extent  of  $1,000,000  a  year  has  been  paid,  and  in  large 
amount  is  still  being  paid. 

From  the  other  side,  we  are  informed  by  Vice-President 
W.  B.  Storey  *  that  while  "  it  is  not  practicable  to  give  an 
estimate  of  the  saving  due  to  '  betterment ',"  nevertheless: 
"  The  bonus  system  installed  at  the  time  Mr.  Emerson  was 
with  us  is  still  in  effect  on  our  road,  although  it  has  been 
modified  in  certain  directions."  In  reply  to  an  inquiry  as 
to  what  parts  of  "  betterment "  had  been  abolished,  he 
said :  "  The  principal  feature  that  has  been  eliminated  is 
bonus  to  foremen  and  men  in  authority."  A  considerable 
part  of  Emerson's  work  has  therefore  been  retained  on  the 
Santa  Fe,  and,  as  we  are  told  by  various  authorities,  is 
working  satisfactorily. 

f.  Conclusions  as  to  the  Past  of  Scientific  Management 

Thus  is  brought  down  to  date  the  story  of  those  instal- 
lations of  scientific  management  which  are  discussed  in  the 
older  literature  of  the  subject.  We  may  conclude  that, 
while  the  facts  do  not  warrant  our  saying  with  some  that 
all  of  the  stock  illustrations  of  scientific  management  are 
to-day  practically  non-existent,  nevertheless  it  is  true  that 
in  each  case  something  has  happened  to  dim  the  glory  of 
the  achievement.  Though  abandoned  in  but  few  cases,  and 
convicted  of  failure  in  none,  stagnation,  disavowal,  or 
transformation,  have  destroyed  their  character  as  satisfac- 
tory evidence.  However,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  scientific- 
management  men  of  to-day  no  longer  care  a  great  deal 

1  Quotations  from  correspondence  dated  March  17,  1914. 


130  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [404 

about  these  earlier  examples.  They  regard  most  of  them 
as  but  the  remnants  of  experimental  stages  which  their 
rapidly-developing  movement  has  long  ago  left  behind. 
In  the  following  paragraphs  we  will  turn,  therefore,  to  a 
survey  of  certain  scenes  of  contemporary  activity,  where 
the  up-to-date  system  may  be  observed. 

2.    A  STUDY  OF  SEVERAL  INSTALLATIONS  OF  CONTEMPORARY 

IMPORTANCE 

a.  The  Tabor  Manufacturing  Company 

This  is  a  Philadelphia  concern  employing  about  one 
hundred  men;  it  is  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  mold- 
ing machinery,  together  with  certain  other  machinery  and 
appliances  for  machine-shop  use.  Though  the  company 
had  been  in  business  for  a  number  of  years,  it  was  not 
until  1900  or  later  that  it  opened  a  shop  for  the  purpose 
of  doing  its  own  manufacturing.  The  new  venture  was 
not  very  well  organized,  and  the  company  sustained  heavy 
losses,  conditions  being  made  still  worse  by  a  strike  of  the 
employees.  After  a  time  the  president,  Wilfred  Lewis, 
who  happened  to  be  a  personal  friend  of  Frederick  W. 
Taylor,  sought  and  obtained  the  latter's  financial  aid.  This 
was  given  on  condition  that  scientific  management  be  in- 
troduced. Reorganization  was  begun  under  the  direction 
of  Carl  G.  Barth,  consulting  engineer,  with  the  aid  of  ad- 
vance sheets  from  Taylor's  paper  on  "Shop  Management" 
(read  in  June,  1903),  and  some  personal  supervision  by 
Taylor  himself.  In  the  fall  of  1904,  Horace  K.  Hathaway 
was  engaged  to  give  his  entire  time  to  the  introduction  of 
the  system,  and  since  then,  working  first  under  the  direction 
of  Barth  and  then  independently,  Hathaway  has  been  the 
man  responsible  for  scientific  management  in  this  plant; 
he  is  now  vice-president.  Taylor  was  owner  of  a  small 


405]  A  SURVEY  OF  TRADES  AND  PLANTS  I^l 

amount  of  stock,  not  at  all  a  controlling  interest,  as  is  some- 
times said. 

The  following  claims  have  been  made  for  scientific  man- 
agement in  the  Tabor  works:  The  first  year  that  Hath- 
away was  with  the  company  they  continued  to  lose  money 
— antagonism  within  the  management  hindered  the  start; 
the  second  year,  expenses  were  just  about  met;  while  dur- 
ing the  third  and  succeeding  years  there  were  large  profits.1 
In  1910  the  experience  of  this  company  was  Brandeis'  first 
and  strongest  argument  as  to  the  efficacy  of  scientific  man- 
agement. It  was  testified  before  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  that  in  1910  the  money  value  of  the  Tabor 
output  was  between  two  and  three  times  as  great  as  it  had 
been  in  1904,  this  value  representing,  as  prices  had  fallen, 
a  material  output  fully  three  times  as  great  as  in  1904. 
This  remarkable  showing  had  been  effected  without  any 
increase  in  the  size  of  the  plant,  the  floor  space  remaining 
practically  the  same,  merely  some  additional  storage  room 
having  to  be  rented,  and  there  having  been  but  little  new 
machinery  added.  More  than  this,  the  number  of  work- 
men, instead  of  being  increased,  had  been  actually  reduced : 
where  in  1904,  105  workmen  were  required  in  the  shop 
and  5  in  the  office,  in  1910  only  75  were  employed  in  the 
shop  and  20  in  the  office  (or  in  supervising)  ;  thus  scien- 
tific management  had  cut  down  the  total  force  from  no 
to  95. 

1  The  Tabor  Manufacturing  Company  is  said  to  have  failed  recently 
to  declare  a  dividend.  However,  our  informant,  one  of  the  leading 
critics  of  scientific  management,  assigned  the  incident  to  commercial 
causes  alone,  and  not  to  the  shop  system.  Mr.  Hathaway  tells  us  that 
while  business  conditions  have  been  unusually  unfavorable  recently,  his 
company  has  as  a  matter  of  fact  often  passed  dividends — the  stock 
being  all  in  the  hands  of  a  small  group,  who  have  followed  a  policy 
of  strengthening  the  company's  resources,  accumulating  stock,  etc., 
rather  than  seeking  immediate  returns. 


SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [406 

A  description  of  the  introduction  of  scientific  manage- 
ment into  the  Tabor  works  follows.  The  sketch  will  show 
scientific  management  from  a  new  and  more  realistic  angle. 
In  our  earlier  discussion  of  the  genesis  of  scientific  man- 
agement the  main  features  of  the  system  were  presented  in 
what  might  be  called  their  logical  sequence;  that  is,  atten- 
tion was  first  called  to  the  ends  in  view,  and  secondly,  to 
the  means  adopted.  However,  when  a  real  factory — like 
the  Tabor  Manufacturing  Company — actually  starts  to  in- 
troduce scientific  management,  it  is  obvious  that  the  vari- 
ous features  must  be  installed  in  precisely  the  reverse  of 
the  logical  order — that  is,  the  first  steps  must  be  of  a  rather 
incidental  nature,  while  the  greater  ends  can  be  compassed 
only  towards  the  last.  Hence,  as  we  review  the  experience 
of  this  company,  we  shall  find  our  first,  second,  and  third 
phases  of  scientific  management  somewhat  rearranged. 

The  first  effort  in  the  Tabor  plant  was  to  improve  con- 
ditions. All  of  the  machines  were  gone  over,  strengthened 
where  necessary,  and  put  into  first-class  order.  A  plentiful 
supply  of  small  tools,  such  as  bolts  and  clamps  for  holding 
materials,  was  purchased  and  put  at  the  disposal  of  the 
workmen.  Cutting  tools  of  the  most  scientific  shapes  and 
of  uniform  quality  of  steel  were  introduced.  As  coming 
partly  under  this  same  head  of  rearranging  conditions  may 
be  mentioned  improvements  in  tool-rooms,  store-rooms,  etc. 

As  rapidly  as  progress  along  this  first  line  permitted,  a 
second  side  of  scientific  management  was  taken  up,  namely, 
the  organizing  of  the  working  force.  The  shop  was  placed 
under  the  control  of  a  "  functional  management "  with 
headquarters  in  a  "  planning  department."  To  describe 
the  Tabor  system :  As  soon  as  an  order  has  passed  through 
the  hands  of  the  draftsman,  it  is  analyzed  to  determine 
exactly  what  parts  will  have  to  be  made,  and  then,  the  date 
for  the  completion  of  the  entire  order  having  been  taken 


407]  A  SURVEY  OF  TRADES  AND  PLANTS 

into  consideration,  an  explanatory  diagram  is  drawn  up, 
which  covers  all  the  parts,  and  specifies  just  when  each  part 
should  be  finished  and  ready  for  assembly.  The  next  step 
is  to  send  a  list  of  the  materials  which  will  be  needed  to  the 
stock  clerk,  who  makes  sure  that  everything  will  be  on 
hand  in  time;  also  by  way  of  preparation,  an  instruction 
card  is  made  out  for  every  operation,  which  covers  the 
things  to  be  done,  the  best  methods  of  doing  them,  the 
tools  that  will  be  needed,  and  the  time  which  each  element 
of  the  job  should  take.  Everything  is  now  put  into  the 
charge  of  the  "order  of  work"  clerk;  keeping  an  eye  on 
the  planning-department  diagram  which  stipulates  when 
every  operation  must  be  finished,  and  at  the  same  time 
keeping  in  touch  with  the  daily  work  of  every  man  and 
machine  in  the  shop,  this  "  general  "  routes  and  dispatches 
the  jobs  by  means  of  elaborate  bulletin-boards,  the  whole 
system  thus  resembling  a  great  piece  of  clock-work. 

Again  viewing  the  Tabor  functional  management,  and 
this  time  from  the  standpoint  of  the  workman  at  a  ma- 
chine, functional  management  means  that  where  formerly 
the  workman  had  to  hunt  up  the  foreman  to  find  out  what 
he  was  to  do,  then  search  for  materials,  find  and  grind  his 
own  tools,  etc.,  now  he  has  everything  brought  to  him  in 
advance,  and  laid  out  before  him  in  first-class  condition 
ready  for  starting  to  work.  In  addition,  the  workman  has 
at  hand  an  instruction  card,  which  makes  unnecessary  a 
preliminary  debate  as  to  what  to  do  first.  Also  at  his  ser- 
vice are  three  teachers,  of  whom  the  gang-boss  and  the 
speed-boss  instruct  him  in  the  most  expeditious  way  of 
setting  up  and  of  performing  the  work,  while  the  inspector 
instructs  him  as  to  how  he  may  obtain  the  necessary  quality. 

Not  until  the  Tabor  people  had  undertaken  these  two 
preliminary  steps  could  there  be  installed  the  last  and 
crowning  feature  of  scientific  management — the  wage  sys- 


SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [4Og 

tern.  Briefly  characterized,  this  consists  in  timing  the  ele- 
mentary human  movements  entering  into  a  job,  calculating 
the  machine  times,  and  then  using  these  data  to  decide  how 
long  it  should  take  to  complete  the  job;  the  company  under 
all  circumstances  pays  a  day  rate,  which  is,  it  is  claimed, 
fully  as  high  as  that  prevailing  throughout  the  community 
for  similar  work;  and  then  for  successful  accomplishment 
of  the  task  it  pays  in  addition  a  bonus  amounting  to  35 
per  cent.  Some  of  the  men  always  earn  their  bonus;  others 
sometimes  fail.  The  average  amount  carried  home  at  the 
end  of  the  week  is  said  to  be  between  25  and  30  per  cent 
greater  than  the  same  men  could  get  elsewhere. 

The  Tabor  Manufacturing  Company's  plant  is  the  most 
celebrated  demonstration  ground  and  school  connected 
with  the  scientific-management  movement.  One  gentleman 
counted  some  twenty  visitors  who  went  through  the  shop 
in  about  three  hours  one  afternoon.  It  is  a  favorite  place 
for  training  young  men  who  are  later  to  become  experts 
on  their  own  account. 

b.  The  Link-Belt  Company 

A  twin  brother  of  the  Tabor  Manufacturing  Company — 
as  far  as  scientific  management  is  concerned — is  the  Phila- 
delphia branch  of  the  Link-Belt  Company,  a  concern  en- 
gaged in  manufacturing  elevating  and  conveying  machin- 
ery, of  special  rather  than  standard  types,  and  employing 
from  four  hundred  to  seven  hundred  and  fifty  men.  In 
both  the  Tabor  and  Link-Belt  plants,  and  at  almost  the 
same  time,  the  introduction  of  scientific  management  was 
started  by  Carl  G.  Barth,  under  the  general  supervision  of 
Frederick  W.  Taylor.  Of  the  two,  the  Link-Belt  people 
perhaps  deserve  credit  for  taking  hold  more  promptly  and 
attacking  more  vigorously  and  with  less  respect  to  cost 


409]  A  SURVEY  OF  TRADES  AND  PLANTS 

pioneer  difficulties.  Some  believe,  however,  that  at  the  pres- 
ent time  there  is  a  shade  of  difference  the  other  way,  and 
that  the  Tabor  organization  has  carried  its  system  to  a  finer 
point  of  perfection.  But  these  distinctions  are  not  impor- 
tant :  scientific  management  has  been  installed  completely  in 
both  plants;  their  methods  are  nearly  identical;  both  con- 
cerns are  celebrated. 

However,  the  statistics  of  the  Link-Belt  Company  fur- 
nish the  better  basis  for  judgment  as  to  the  true  value  of 
scientific  management;  for  in  the  case  of  the  Tabor  Manu- 
facturing Company,  all  comparison  is  with  a  past  when  the 
concerns  manufacturing  was  admittedly  an  immature,  badly 
organized,  and  losing  undertaking.  The  Link-Belt  enter- 
prise, on  the  contrary,  was  started  about  1874  or  1875,  and 
since  1878  the  company  has  had  with  it  James  M.  Dodge, 
a  president  of  the  American  Society  of  Mechanical  Engi- 
neers. In  the  nineties  they  had  a  superintendent  well 
versed  in  some  of  the  best  shop  practices.  Indeed,  they 
thought  in  1903  that  they  were  running  a  model  shop,  and 
the  company  was,  in  fact,  making  money.  Hence  the  com- 
parison, in  the  case  of  the  Link-Belt  Company,  is  between 
the  best  of  the  old  and  the  best  of  the  new. 

In  1910  James  M.  Dodge,  chairman  of  the  board  of 
directors,  testified  before  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission that  the  Link-Belt  Company  was  at  that  time  pro- 
ducing twice  as  efficiently  in  its  Philadelphia  plant  as  in 
1903  and  1904,  meaning  that,  per  man  employed,  the  out- 
put of  the  works  as  a  whole  was  twice  as  great.  As  regards 
wages,  he  declared  that  all  were  paid  what  the  men  con- 
sidered fair  day  rates;  in  addition  to  this,  a  bonus  was 
added  for  good  work,  which  amounted  in  the  case  of  most 
good  workmen  to  25  or  30  per  cent  of  the  ordinary  wage, 
but  in  a  few  exceptional  instances  to  35  per  cent.  The 
labor  time  had  thus  been  reduced  by  as  much  as  50  per 


136  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [4IO 

cent;  but,  taking  into  account  the  increase  in  wages,  and 
making  allowance  for  the  fact  that  in  this  industry  the  ex- 
pense for  labor  is  somewhat  overshadowed  by  the  outlay 
for  raw  materials,  it  was  declared  that  in  the  total  costs 
the  system  had  meant  a  reduction  of  not  more  than  20  per 
cent.  As  the  selling  price  had  been  cut  10  or  15  per  cent — 
being  figured  for  the  most  part  on  cost  plus  a  percentage — 
the  net  gain  to  the  stockholders  could  not  have  been  more 
than  5  or  10  per  cent  of  the  selling  price.  In  spite  of  this 
cutting  away  of  a  large  part  of  the  profits  due  to  scientific 
management,  the  company  was  nevertheless  decidedly  more 
prosperous  than  before,  its  dividends  having  ranged  in  the 
years  preceding  1910  from  5  to  14  per  cent.  It  was  also 
brought  out  in  Mr.  Dodge's  testimony  that  the  Link-Belt 
routing  system  had  been  of  special  value,  in  that  it  enabled 
the  company  to  deliver  orders  with  greater  regularity,  and 
that  their  improved  methods  of  replenishing  stock  had  per- 
mitted a  reduction  of  one-third  in  the  stores  kept  per  unit 
of  business  carried  on. 

In  April,  1914,  Frederick  W.  Taylor  testified  before  the 
Industrial  Relations  Commission  that  98  per  cent  of  the 
metal-cutting  tasks  set  in  this  plant  were  accomplished  in 
schedule  time  by  the  workmen.  Before  the  same  com- 
mission, Dodge  testified  that  the  average  term  of  employ- 
ment was  more  than  seven  years;  also  that  the  company 
had  on  file  as  many  as  50,000  time  studies. 

About  1906  there  was  a  merger  of  the  Philadelphia 
company  with  corporations  carrying  on  manufacturing  in 
Chicago  and  Indianapolis.  In  Chicago,  the  introduction  of 
scientific  management  was  begun  promptly ;  and  because  the 
management  was  now  experienced,  as  much  progress  was 
made  in  one  year  in  Chicago  as  had  been  made  in  four  in 
Philadelphia.  Later,  the  system  was  being  installed  rapidly 
in  Indianapolis. 


]  A  SURVEY  OF  TRADES  AND  PLANTS 

In  weighing  the  value  of  these  statistics  in  regard  to  the 
Tabor  Manufacturing  Company  and  the  Link-Belt  Com- 
pany, and,  in  fact,  in  judging  of  the  results  due  to  the  in- 
troduction of  scientific  management  in  any  machine  shop, 
it  must  be  remembered  that  one  reason  for  success  is  the 
fact  that  the  management  experts  bring  with  them  high- 
speed steel.  How  much  of  the  increase  in  productivity  was 
due  to  organization  and  how  much  to  this  epoch-making 
mechanical  improvement,  it  is  hard  to  say,  for  the  reason 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  get  the  full  benefit  of  the 
steel  without  the  use  of  the  instruction  cards,  bonuses,  and 
other  management  features.  Between  the  two  sources  of 
profit  Dodge  makes  no  distinction,  but  says  that  the 
doubling  of  productivity  was  due  to  scientific  management 
plus  high-speed  steel. 

The  prolonged  studies  by  which  the  laws  of  metal-cutting 
were  discovered  and  formulated  for  use  in  the  shop,  we 
believe  should  be  regarded  as  a  distinctly  scientific-manage- 
ment activity;  and  specially  does  the  system  deserve  credit 
for  any  saving  due  to  the  every-day  application  of  these 
principles  by  means  of  instruction  cards,  functional  fore- 
men, etc. ;  these  are  a  part  of  scientific  management.  But 
high-speed  steel,  though  a  product  of  scientific  manage- 
ment, should  not  be  confused  with  it;  and  we  must,  there- 
fore, deduct  something  from  the  above  estimates,  to  deter- 
mine the  true  worth  of  the  new  management  taken  by 
itself. 

Besides  allowing  for  the  effect  of  high-speed  steel,  it  may 
be  noted  that  in  six  years  ordinary  progress  should  account 
for  a  certain  lessening  of  cost.  The  fact  that  prices  were 
lower  and  competitors  more  numerous  in  the  fields  occupied 
by  both  companies  in  1910  than  in  1904  might  indicate  that 
other  forces  were  reducing  costs  and  increasing  outputs 
besides  scientific  management. 


138  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [4I2 

It  is  believed,  however,  that  after  taking  all  these  things 
into  consideration,  a  good  part  of  the  three-fold  productiv- 
ity claimed  for  the  Tabor  plant,  and  the  two-fold  efficiency 
claimed  for  the  Link-Belt  works,  should  be  laid  to  the 
credit  of  scientific  management.  ,The  greater  prosperity  of 
the  companies,  both  as  compared  with  their  own  past  and 
with  the  condition  of  their  competitors,  indicates  that  they 
now  have  some  unusual  advantage.  The  decision  of  the 
Link-Belt  Company  to  install  the  system  in  its  Chicago  and 
Indianapolis  plants  shows  that  the  managers,  at  least,  are 
convinced  of  its  value. 

c.  The  Water  town  Arsenal 

On  June  14,  1909,  Carl  G.  Barth  began  the  installation 
of  scientific  management  in  the  arsenal  operated  by  the 
United  States  Government  at  Watertown,  Mass.  After 
about  two  years  spent  in  looking  over  the  machinery  and 
in  systematizing  the  plant,  the  first  bonus  was  offered  in 
May,  1911.  The  application  of  the  new  wage  system  was 
gradually  widened,  so  that  by  May,  1913,  45  per  cent  of 
the  work  of  the  machine  shop  was  under  the  premium 
system,  some  of  the  other  departments,  however,  running 
as  low  as  5  per  cent.  Altogether,  during  that  month,  210 
out  of  the  600  employees  of  the  arsenal  worked  a  part  of 
their  time  upon  premium  jobs.  Though  it  is  thus  seen 
that  scientific  management  had  not  yet  been  thoroughly 
enough  introduced  to  make  the  Watertown  Arsenal  a 
typical  instance  of  its  application,  yet  the  fact  that  we  here 
meet  with  official  figures  makes  it  worth  while  to  give  a 
brief  summary  of  the  results  obtained. 

In  his  annual  report  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30, 
1912,  General  Crozier,  Chief  of  Ordnance,  gave  special 
attention  to  the  subject  of  scientific  management.  He 
stated  that  during  that  year  it  had  saved  the  Watertown 


413]  A  SURVEY  OF  TRADES  AND  PLANTS 

Arsenal  $49,000;  but  if  throughout  the  entire  twelve 
months  there  had  been  as  much  of  the  system  in  force  as 
there  was  in  May  and  June,  the  figures  would  have  been 
$100,000.  The  best  proof  of  the  value  of  scientific  man- 
agement, he  continued,  was  the  fact  that  due  to  the  exist- 
ence of  these  savings  the  estimates  for  the  next  fiscal  year 
had  been  reduced  by  over  $240,000.  Scientific  management 
was  furthermore  permitting  a  substantial  reduction  in  the 
amount  of  stores,  $122,000  worth  having  been  already  ab- 
sorbed. The  productivity  of  the  individual  was  on  the 
average  about  two  and  a  half  times  as  great  as  it  had  been 
under  day-work,  as  was  found  by  a  comparison  of  the  job 
cards  on  about  sixty  different  jobs,  each  of  which  was 
performed  both  under  the  old  day-work  and  the  premium 
systems. 

In  a  memorandum  submitted  to  the  Secretary  of  War 
on  September  6,  1913,  General  Crozier  further  stated  that 
in  the  seventeen  months  ending  May  31,  1913,  $22,000  had 
been  paid  out  in  premiums  to  the  men.  During  May,  1913, 
individuals  had  earned  bonuses  varying  from  nothing  to 
$31.  In  the  machine  shop,  the  average  earnings  while 
working  on  premium  jobs  were  24  per  cent  above  the  day 
rate.  More  men  earned  premiums  between  30  and  35  per 
cent  than  in  any  other  5-per-cent  group,  while  less  than  4 
per  cent  failed  to  receive  any  bonus.  These  machinists  con- 
stituted three-fifths  of  the  premium  workers.  The  averages 
for  the  other  departments  were  generally  higher,  and  in  no 
case  lower,  than  24  per  cent. 

The  premium  system  at  Watertown  starts  with  the  usual 
stop-watch  analysis  on  the  basis  of  which  the  time  required 
to  perform  work  is  ascertained ;  this  time  is  then  increased 
by  two-thirds  (that  is,  for  a  job  that  can  be  done  in  30 
minutes,  50  minutes  is  allowed),  and  then  for  every  minute 
saved  from  the  time  allowed  a  premium  of  half  a  minute's 


I40  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

additional  pay  is  given.  Thus  if  a  task  which  can  be  done 
in  30  minutes  is  actually  finished  in  30  instead  of  50  min- 
utes, the  premium  amounts  to  10  minutes,  or  33^  per  cent 
No  matter  how  long  a  man  takes,  he  gets  his  regular  day 
rate;  and  in  September,  1913,  General  Crozier  stated  that 
up  to  that  time  no  one  had  been  discharged  for  failure  to 
earn  a  bonus,  or  indeed  because  of  the  introduction  of 
scientific  management.  Foremen  are  given  bonuses  which 
vary  with  the  success  of  their  subordinates. 

The  chief  interest  in  the  Watertown  Arsenal  case  centers, 
however,  in  the  relationship  between  scientific  management 
and  organized  labor.  In  December,  1910,  General  Crozier 
had  assembled  at  Watertown  a  board  including  the  com- 
manding officers  of  the  principal  manufacturing  arsenals. 
A  thorough  study  was  made  of  the  new  methods  and  their 
adoption  elsewhere  recommended.  By  this  time,  the  hear- 
ings before  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  had 
thrown  the  limelight  on  scientific  management.  When, 
therefore,  in  the  spring  of  1911,  steps  were  taken  to  intro- 
duce the  system  at  the  Rock  Island  Arsenal,  the  employees 
there,  it?  cooperation  with  President  Gompers  of  the  Amer- 
ican Federation  of  Labor  and  President  O'Connell  of  the 
International  Association  of  Machinists,  vigorously  at- 
tacked it.  Hearings  were  secured  before  the  House  com- 
mittee on  labor,  and  an  alarmist  circular  was  issued  by 
O'Connell. 

Possibly  it  was  because  of  this  stimulus,  General  Cro- 
zier thinks,  that  when  an  attempt  was  made  to  introduce 
the  bonus  system  into  the  Watertown  foundry  during  the 
summer  of  1911,  the  entire  force  walked  out.  Though 
they  came  back  in  a  few  days  and  the  installation  of  scien- 
tific management  was  successfully  continued,  on  August  21 
the  House  of  Representatives  authorized  a  special  com- 
mittee to  make  an  investigation.  This  committee,  composed 
of  W.  B.  Wilson,  later  Secretary  of  Labor,  Wm.  C.  Red- 


415]  A  SURVEY  OF  TRADES  AND  PLANTS  I4I 

field,  later  Secretary  of  Commerce,  and  John  Q.  Tilson, 
held  hearings  in  Boston,  New  York,  and  Washington,  be- 
ginning on  October  4,  1911,  and  ending  the  following  Feb- 
ruary 1 2th.  On  June  17,  1913,  the  majority  of  the  Water- 
town  employees,  and  then  on  June  21  their  union  represen- 
tatives, filed  petitions  requesting  the  abandonment  of  the 
"  Taylor  "  or  "  stop-watch  "  system.  To  these  petitions 
General  Crozier  made  an  exhaustive  reply  (September  6). 
From  time  to  time  various  bills  have  been  introduced 
into  both  houses  of  Congress  forbidding  the  use  of  the 
stop  watch  (or  other  time-measuring  device)  and  the  pay- 
ing of  bonuses  on  government  work.  On  March  3,  1915, 
the  House  forced  the  Senate's  unwilling  consent  to  pro- 
visions in  both  the  Army  and  Navy  appropriation  bills  for- 
bidding the  use  of  funds  for  either  of  these  purposes.  This 
means  that,  beginning  with  July  i,  1915,  the  extension  or 
preservation  of  this  phase  of  scientific  management  in  the 
Government  arsenals  will  be  impossible.  For  a  year,  at 
least,  the  system  will  be  suppressed.  Indeed,  the  War  De- 
partment has  not  waited  for  July  to  begin  its  removal.1 

d.  The  Cotton  Industry 

Our  last  detailed  description  will  be  of  a  plant  in  regard 
to  which  there  is  available  exceptionally  valuable  data  re- 
specting the  effect  of  scientific  management  on  health.  It 
-is  a  New  Jersey  cotton  mill,  systematized  some  time  ago  by 
Henry  L.  Gantt,  who  for  five  years  devoted  a  portion  of 
his  attention  to  the  work.  The  increase  in  the  productivity 
of  the  factory  amounted  to  perhaps  20  or  30  per  cent,  and 

1  Colonel  Charles  B.  Wheeler,  commanding  officer  of  the  Watertown 
Arsenal,  and  Major  C.  C.  Williams,  his  first  assistant,  have  devoted 
much  time  to  the  matter  of  pushing  the  introduction  of  scientific  man- 
agement; Dwight  V.  Merrick,  a  very  capable  time-study  man,  was 
Earth's  assistant.  For  statement  as  to  the  objections  raised  against 
scientific  management  at  Watertown,  cf.  infra,  p.  188,  n.,  and  pp.  190-2. 
That  the  formal  petitions,  in  fact,  misrepresented  the  real  sentiments  of 
the  employees  is  indicated,  infra,  pp.  192-3. 

\ 


I42  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

was  substantial,  though  not  at  all  as  phenomenal  as  in  the 
case  of  the  metal-cutting  shops.  Wages  were  increased  by 
about  30  per  cent  in  many  (though  not  all)  of  the  depart- 
ments, so  that  it  is  seen  that  the  profit  to  the  management 
did  not  lie  in  diminishing  the  direct  labor  cost,  but  rather 
lay  in  lessening  the  proportion  of  overhead  expense  to  be 
attached  to  each  unit  of  output,  because  of  the  increased 
production.  As  quality  as  well  as  quantity  was  considered 
in  the  paying  of  bonuses,  there  was  a  marked  improvement 
in  the  uniformity  of  the  product. 

Though  there  was  thus  no  overwhelming  increase  in  the 
production  of  this  cotton  mill,  it  might  not  be  a  bad  place 
to  look  for  injurious  effects  upon  the  health  of  the  work- 
ers: a  large  number  of  the  employees  were  women;  and 
the  introduction  of  task-setting — though  it  eventually  re- 
sulted in  the  work's  being  practically  all  •performed  in 
standard  time — was  at  first  accompanied  by  a  marked  thin- 
ning in  the  ranks  of  the  employees.  This  would  cause  one 
to  wonder  whether  Gantt  was  right  in  saying  that  those 
who  fell  by  the  wayside  were  idlers,  or  whether  the  oppo- 
nents of  the  system  could  not  here  find  a  justification  for 
their  general  contention  that  the  pace  set  by  scientific  man- 
agement is  too  fast. 

We  may,  therefore,  attach  considerable  importance  to  a 
two  months'  investigation  covering  the  effect  of  scientific 
management  on  health  in  this  and  two  other  factories. 
This  investigation  was  financed  by  S.  S.  McClure,  and  con- 
ducted by  Miss  Edith  Wyatt,  for  many  years  vice-president 
of  the  Illinois  Consumers'  League,  an  organization  which 
strives  to  ameliorate  the  conditions  of  women's  and  chil- 
dren's labor.  In  her  testimony  before  the  special  House 
committee  appointed  to  investigate  scientific  management, 
Miss  Wyatt  gave  the  following  facts : 1 

1  Hearings, 


417]  A  SURVEY  OF  TRADES  AND  PLANTS 

Her  investigation  of  the  cotton  mill  concerned  only  the 
women  workers;  it  included  one  or  more  visits  to  the 
homes  of  30  out  of  the  no  women  operatives,  and  talks 
with  the  mothers  of  the  younger  girls.  As  to  the  attitude 
of  the  girls  towards  scientific  management,  Miss  Wyatt 
said  : 

.  .  .  they  were  almost  all  of  them  pleased  with  it.  The  only 
one  who  was  distinctly  displeased  with  it  was  the  girl  I  men- 
tioned who  was  living  in  really  very  tragic  conditions  at  home 
.  .  .  she  complained  of  the  entire  cotton  industry  .  .  .  but  I 
did  not  feel  her  complaint  was  due  to  scientific  management. 
And  then  the  winder  I  speak  of  complained  of  the  stamping 
on  pedals,  and  that  I  felt  was  justified.  [This  latter  work  was 
afterwards  turned  over  to  boys.] 

Miss  Wyatt  said  that  in  all  her  investigations  she  found 
only  one  mother  who  objected  to  the  system,  and  after 
talking  with  the  neighbors  and  looking  up  the  health  of  the 
children,  Miss  Wyatt  thought  that  this  complaint  was 
groundless. 

Her  own  observations,  made  department  by  department, 
convinced  Miss  Wyatt  that  in  only  one  particular  were 
conditions  unfavorable  to  health,  and  that  was  where  some 
obstacle,  regularly  connected  with  the  work,  had  to  be 
encountered  oftener  because  of  the  speeding-up  of  the 
machinery — as,  for  instance,  the  stamping  on  pedals  men- 
tioned above.  However,  the  management  was  constantly 
and  successfully  applying  itself  to  the  eradication  of  these 
obstacles;  and  even  in  spite  of  the  burdensomeness  of  these 
difficult  operations,  the  amelioration  of  working  conditions 
in  general — the  better  air,  better  light,  and  reduced  strain — 
made  for  a  net  improvement  in  working  conditions  under 
the  system. 

In  the  course  of  her  investigation,  Miss  Wyatt  was  per- 


144  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

haps  struck  with  nothing  more  forcibly  than  the  changed 
attitude  of  the  employers  towards  hours,  wages,  conditions 
of  work,  etc.  —  the  "  mental  revolution  "of  which  Fred- 
erick W.  Taylor  is  fond  of  speaking.  She  offered  one 
criticism:  "My  feeling  .  .  .  was  that  if  the  workers  had 
been  organized,  if  the  workers  themselves  had  stated  their 
grievances,  that  it  would  have  been  of  great  assistance 
both  to  the  employers  and  to  the  efficiency  engineers  and 
to  the  girls  themselves." 

3.    EXTENT  OF  THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGE- 
MENT 

Turning  now  to  a  more  rapid  survey  of  other  plants  in 
which  scientific  management  has  been  installed,  Frederick 
A.  Parkhurst's  Applied  Methods  of  Scientific  Management 
is  a  325-page  record  of  the  precise  steps  taken  to  modify 
and  expand  Taylor's  principles  to  meet  the  specific  condi- 
tions existing  in  a  given  plant,  namely,  that  of  the  Ferra- 
cute  Machine  Company  at  Bridgeton,  New  Jersey.  The 
claim  is  made  that  with  practically  the  same  employees  and 
equipment  the  time  required  to  perform  275  jobs  was  on 
the  average  reduced  to  just  38  per  cent  of  what  it  had  been 
before,  that  after  increasing  the  average  day  rate  by  n 
per  cent,  and  giving  to  bonus  workers  in  addition  an  in- 
crease of  from  20  to  60  per  cent,  the  total  cost  for  the  275 
jobs,  including  overhead  expense,  was  only  47  per  cent  of 
what  it  had  been  under  the  old  system. 

In  the  printing  line,  much  attention  has  been  attracted 
to  the  reorganization  of  the  Plimpton  Press,  at  Norwood, 
Massachusetts,  by  Morris  L.  Cooke  and  Horace  K.  Hath- 
away, with  the  aid  of  Henry  P.  Kendall,  manager.  This 
well-known  concern  employs  about  1,200  persons.  The 
Taylor  system  was  partially  installed  for  the  Forbes  Litho- 
graph Company  of  Boston,  the  initial  work  there  having 


419]  A  SURVEY  OF  TRADES  AND  PLANTS 

been  done  by  Cooke.  A  start  was  made  in  the  plant  of  the 
Curtis  Publishing  Company  of  Philadelphia,  and  in  that 
of  the  Manhattan  Press  of  New  York. 

The  Union  Typewriter  Company  is  now  accepting 
scientific  management  from  Henry  L.  Gantt;  the  Pullman 
Company  of  Chicago  from  Carl  G.  Barth.  The  H.  H. 
Franklin  Manufacturing  Company,  automobile  builders,  are 
having  the  system  installed  by  Dwight  V.  Merrick,  their 
works  manager  being  George  D.  Babcock.  The  Yale  & 
Towne  Manufacturing  Company  employed  Carl  G.  Barth 
to  introduce  scientific  management  into  one  department 
some  time  ago,  and  is  now  extending  the  same  to  the  whole 
plant  under  the  leadership  of  J.  C.  Reagan.  Gantt's  most 
promising  field  is  now  the  Westinghouse  Electric  Com- 
pany, and  he  has  been  retained  by  the  famous  Cheney  Silk 
Mills  of  South  Manchester,  Conn. 

The  mere  mention  of  these  great  corporations  shows  that 
scientific  management  is  now  being  rapidly  intrenched  in 
the  high  places  of  the  industrial  world.  Turning  our  in- 
quiry now  to  the  proportion  of  industry  affected,  Robert 
T.  Kent,  who  is  the  secretary  of  the  Society  for  the  Pro- 
motion of  the  Science  of  Management,  and  who  excludes 
from  scientific  management  everything  that  is  not  strictly 
"Taylor,"  tells  us  that  one  day  he  called  to  mind  with  but 
little  effort  sixty  important  instances  of  the  introduction 
of  the  system.  If  now  to  the  Taylor  group's  work  be 
added  the  two  hundred  installations  of  Harrington  Emer- 
son, and  also  those  of  a  great  number  of  other  efficiency 
engineers  whose  methods  largely  parallel  scientific  manage- 
ment, the  actual  results  of  the  movement  are  seen  to  be  not 
inconsiderable.  A  committee  of  the  American  Society  of 
Mechanical  Engineers  reported  in  December,  1912,  that 
although  they  could  not  obtain  complete  statistics  as  to  the 
extent  of  the  introduction  of  the  new  system,  "  labor- 


146 


SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 


[420 


saving  management  "  (by  which  they  meant  scientific  man- 
agement) had  been  installed  in  some  form  in  the  following 
fifty-two  industries : 1 


Book  binding 
Building  construction 
Carriage  and  wagon  building 
Construction    and    repair    of 

vessels  (navy  yards) 
Fire-arms  and  ordnance 

Rifles 

Gun  carriages 
^achinery  building 

Automobiles 

Agricultural  implements 

Coal-handling  machinery 

Electrical  machinery 

Founding,  iron  and  brass 

General  machine  work 

Gas  engines 

Locomotives 

Machine  tools 

Molding  machines 

Pumps 

Pneumatic  tools 

Sewing  machines 

Typewriters 

Wood-working  machinery 
Metal  and  coal  mining 


Metal  working 

Bolts  and  nuts 

Chains 

Hardware 

Tanks 

Tin  cans 

Valves  and  pipe  fittings 
Miscellaneous  manufacturing 

Beer 

Beet  sugar 

Boxes  (wood  and  paper) 

Buttons 

Clothing 

Cordage 

Food  products 

Furniture 

Flour 

Glass 

Lumber  products 

Pianos 

Paper  and  paper  pulp 

Rubber  goods 

Soaps 

Shoes 

Slate  products 


1  Cf.  C.  Bertrand  Thompson,  "  Scientific  Management  in  Practice," 
Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  Feb.,  1915.  Mr.  Thompson,  after  a 
field  investigation  covering  twelve  states  and  continued  through  por- 
tions of  three  years,  amends  the  above  list  by  removing  sewing  ma- 
chines, brewing,  and  beet-sugar  refining,  on  the  ground  that  in  these 
industries  "  there  was  merely  consultation  or  a  report  which  did  not 
develop  later  into  actual  work."  He  further  recasts  and  supplements 
the  list  so  as  to  make  it  number  eighty  industries. 


421]  A  SURVEY  OF  TRADES  AND  PLANTS 

Printing  and  lithographing  Textile  manufacture 

Railroad  maintenance  of  mo-         Bleaching  and  dyeing 

tive  power  Cottons 

Steel  manufacture  Velvets 

Woolens 

When,  however,  the  area  dominated  by  scientific  man- 
agement is  compared  with  the  vast  expanse  of  American 
and  world  industry,  it  must  be  admitted  that,  while  scien- 
tific management  has  made  a  good  start,  its  extent  is  as 
yet  far  from  all-embracing.  Fifty  thousand  is  a  common 
estimate  as  to  the  number  of  persons  employed  under  the 
system;  or,  to  put  substantially  this  same  judgment  in  an- 
other form,  the  leaders  say  that  probably  one-tenth  of  one 
per  cent  would  exceed  the  proportion  of  the  national  in- 
dustry which  they  have  reshaped.  It  may  be  noted,  how- 
ever, that  Mr.  Taylor  recently  raised  his  estimate  to  150,- 
ooo  or  200, ooo.1 

All  these  estimates,  however,  include  plants  where  the 
work  is  incomplete.  Thus  Emerson  tells  us  that  in  no 
plant  has  he  had  an  opportunity  to  install  his  system  as 
thoroughly  as  Taylor's  ideas  have  been  incorporated  in  the 
Tabor  shop.  "  In  many  plants  our  engagement  was  for 
very  short  periods.  A  limited  sum  would  be  appropriated 

1  Testimony  before  the  Industrial  Relations  Commission,  April,  1914. 
Taylor  said  that  he  regarded  these  figures — and  all  similar  estimates — 
as  pure  guesses.  He  declared  that  he  knew  of  perhaps  100  plants 
where  the  Taylor  System  was  working,  but.  that  there  were  certainly 
others. 

C.  Bertrand  Thompson  (loc.  cit.)  has  since  claimed  definite  knowl- 
edge of  140  applications  of  scientific  management,  of  which  5  are  to 
railroad  and  steamship  operation,  4  to  public  service  corporations,  4 
to  municipal  work,  3  to  building  and  construction  companies,  i  to  a 
department  store,  I  to  a  bank,  i  to  a  publisher,  i  to  a  professional 
society,  and  the  remaining  120  to  factories.  He  estimates  that  the  fac- 
tories employ  43,000  men,  and  the  transportation  companies  20,000. 
He  believes  that  the  bonus  affects  as  many  as  40,000  employees. 


148  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [422 

with  instructions  to  do  the  best  we  could  in  three  months 
or  six  months."  And  so,  to  a  large  extent,  has  it  been 
almost  everywhere.  Not  only  has  the  system  been  modi- 
fied and  minimized  to  meet  financial  limitations,  but  usu- 
ally peculiar  obstacles  of  one  sort  or  another  have  affected 
the  nature  of  the  introduction.  Thus  complete  reorganiza- 
tions on  efficiency  lines  are  not  very  numerous,  and  pure 
scientific  management  is  extremely  rare. 

At  the  same  time,  not  even  the  largest-sounding  of  the 
estimates  given  above  would  cover  all  the  industry  upon 
which  scientific  management  has  had  some  effect.  They 
take  into  account  only  installations  by  men  who  have  hung 
rather  close  to  the  original  leaders.  No  one  group  of  lead- 
ers, however,  is  now  able  to  control  the  scientific-manage- 
ment movement.  We  noted  in  the  last  chapter  the  large 
number  of  persons  who  have  entered  upon  the  work  pro- 
fessionally or  taken  an  active  part  in  introducing  changes 
into  their  own  plants.  Perhaps  they  do  not  completely  un- 
derstand scientific  management,  but  they  have  read  Taylor's 
books,  or  Emerson's,  or  caught  their  spirit, — and  one  or 
anotKer  of  the  principles  is  adopted.  Missionaries  fresh 
from  India  and  Japan  have  told  us  of  their  thought  that 
these  principles  might  be  applied  to  mission  finances  or  to 
mission  industrial  work.  University  men,  next  door,  have 
proposed  to  apply  them  in  the  class-room.  Wherever,  on 
the  train  or  in  the  shop,  we  have  talked  with  factory  work- 
men or  managers,  they  have  had  something  to  say  about 
new  systems,  different  perhaps  in  name,  but  very  similar  in 
effect  to  those  herein  described.  We  suppose  there  are  few 
important  factories  where  the  influence  of  scientific  man- 
agement has  not  been  felt,  to  at  least  a  small  extent. 

While  America  is  the  home  of  "  scientific  management." 
an  important  literature  on  the  subject  has  appeared  in  Ger- 
man and  French.  In  most  of  the  other  leading  languages, 


423]  A  SURVEY  OF  TRADES  AND  PLANTS 

translations  of  one  or  more  American  works  are  obtainable. 
According  to  Morris  L.  Cooke : 1  "  There  are  some  estab- 
lishments in  most  of  these  countries  in  which  real  progress 
in  scientific  management  is  being  made.  Better  still  in 
most  foreign  countries  one  or  more  prominent  citizens — 
usually  of  the  engineering  profession — are  advocating  the 
adoption  of  scientific  management  as  a  means  toward 
national  progress." 

1  "  The   Spirit  and    Social    Significance   of    Scientific   Management," 
Journal  of  Political  Economy,  June,  1913,  p.  482. 


PART  II 

A  CRITICAL  REVIEW  OF  IMPORTANT 
ASPECTS   OF  SCIENTIFIC   MANAGEMENT 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE  PRODUCTIVITY.  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

IN  discussing  the  productivity  of  a  system  as  many- 
sided  as  scientific  management,  the  system  as  a  whole  must 
be  resolved  into  its  constituent  parts.  The  various  effi- 
ciency devices  should  be  arranged  in  the  order  of  their  re- 
spective importance,  and  the  value  of  each  estimated.  We 
face,  therefore,  the  leading  question:  What  is  the  most 
profitable  feature  of  scientific  management? 

I.    THE  VALUE  OF  THE  INITIATIVE  OF  WORKMEN 

Of  his  original  publication,  "A  Piece-  Rate  -System," 
Frederick  W.  Taylor  afterwards  stated  that  his  chief  object 
in  writing  it  was  "  to  advocate  the  study  of  '  unit  times  ' 
as  the  foundation  of  good  management."  *  In  regard  to 
his  more  mature  paper,  "  Shop  Management,"  the  father 
of  scientific  management  makes  the  even  stronger  declara- 
tion :  2  "  What  the  writer  wishes  particularly  to  emphasize 
is  that  the  whole  system  rests  upon  an  accurate  and  scien- 
tific study  of  '  unit  times/  which  is  by  far  the  most  im- 
portant element  in  modern  management."  What  was  true 
at  the  beginning  is  true  to-day.  In  1913  Morris  L.  Cooke, 
than  whom  no  one  has  done  more  to  broaden  the  scope  of 
scientific  management,  still  felt  constrained  to  say  :  3 
"  Practically  everything  that  is  done  in  developing  scien- 


Management,"   Transactions  of  the   American   Society   of 
Mechanical  Engineers,  vol.  xxiv,  p.  1364. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  1364. 

3  Journal  of  Political  Economy,  June,  1913,  p.  487. 

427]  153 


154  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [428 

tific  management  in  an  establishment  has  for  its  object  the 
setting  of  tasks." 

The  fact  that  task-setting  is  the  thing  towards  which  all 
scientific  management  is  directed  is  of  the  greatest  impor- 
tance for  the  present  discussion,  for  it  indicates  that  the 
aspect  of  the  system  of  which  this  device  is  the  central 
feature  is  the  most  largely  productive  of  all.  The  attain- 
ment of  the  initiative  of  the  workman,  through  giving  an 
extra  reward  for  the  successful  completion  of  a  task,  which 
task  has  been  determined  by  the  study  of  unit  times — this 
end  must  be  regarded  as  the  initial  incentive  and  the  mov- 
ing force  behind  the  entire  development. 

The  contribution  which  the  first  phase  of  scientific  man- 
agement has  made  to  the  general  productivity  of  the  system 
may  be  evaluated  as  follows: 

Before  the  system  had  been  developed  so  as  to  include 
many  auxiliary  features,  production  on  jobs  in  the  Mid- 
vale  Steel  works  was  increased  by  100  per  cent,  this  being 
credited  almost  entirely  to  the  setting  of  tasks  by  means 
of  elementary  time  study  and  the  application  of  the  differ- 
ential rate.  Taylor  tells  us  in  "A  Piece-Rate  System"1 
that  he  has  never  failed  to  find  men  who  are  glad  to  un- 
load coal  from  a  car  at  the  rate  of  forty  tons  per  day  in- 
stead of  the  usual  fifteen  tons.  Beyond  taking  care  to 
select  strong  men,  there  seems  to  have  been  no  extensive 
study  of  the  work;  but  reliance  was  placed  mainly  on  rous- 
ing interest  through  task-work  with  liberal  pay.  The  pos- 
sibility of  greatly  increasing  production  through  adjust- 
ments in  the  method  of  wage  determination  is  attested  by 
authorities  from  all  quarters.  Thus  David  F.  Schloss 
found  that  by  ordinary  piece-work,  production  could  be 
increased  from  30  to  50  per  cent ; 2  and  Frederick  A.  Hal- 

1  Transactions  of   the  American   Society   of  Mechanical   Engineers, 
vol.  xvi,  p.  878. 

z  Supra,  p.  32. 


429]    PRODUCTIVITY  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

sey  claims  for  his  "  premium  plan  "  an  increase  in  pro- 
ductivity of  70  per  cent.1  Finally,  the  retention  of  the 
bonus  system  in  the  plants  of  the  Bethlehem  Steel  Com- 
pany 2  and  of  the  Santa  Fe  railway  3  indicate  that  it  is  of 
real  value.  . 

We  may  believe,  therefore,  that  the  greatest  gain  which  v 
attends  the  introduction  of  scientific  management  is  the 
minimizing  of  the  friction  and  waste  which  ordinarily 
occur  when  one  man  works  for  another.  The  more  cap- 
able men  do  not  accomplish  nearly  as  much  work  as  they 
might  easily  turn  out,  this  attitude  being  assumed  as  a 
matter  of  policy.  Scientific  management,  through  deter- 
mining reasonable  tasks  by  the  accurate  method  of  elemen- 
tary time  study,  and  then  adequately  rewarding  workers 
who  attain  the  standard,  is  therefore  capable  of  adding 
substantially  to  the  sum  total  of  production;  nor  need  the 
cost  of  the  additional  effort  be  as  great  as  the  value  of  the 
extra  product. 

But  the  precise  amount  of  gain  varies,  on  the  one  hand 
with  the  seriousness  with  which  work  has  been  done  be- 
fore, and  on  the  other  with  the  extent  to  which  a  rigid 
scientific  determination  of  tasks  is  feasible. 

General  Crozier  describes  an  instance  at  the  Watertown 
Arsenal  where  the  time  on  a  job  was  not  reduced,  because 
the  man  who  had  been  previously  working  on  it  was  an 
earnest  workman.  Likewise,  the  gains  under  scientific 
management  have  often  loomed  up  in  greatly  exaggerated 
proportions,  because  the  shops  concerned  had  been  badly 
managed  previous  to  reorganization.  It  is  probable  that 
on  jobs  where  a  piece-rate  or  Halsey  premium  system  has 
been  used  for  a  long  time,  the  industry  of  the  men  cannot 
be  greatly  increased  by  the  introduction  of  scientific  man- 

1  Supra,  pp.  49-50.  2  Supra,  p.  122. 

3  Supra,  pp.  128-9. 


156  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [430 

agement.  It  follows  that  this  phase  of  scientific  manage- 
ment is  of  chief  advantage  in  those  fields  where  constant 
or  frequent  change  in  the  work  prevents  or  delays  the 
establishment  of  reliable  day-work  or  piece-work  stand- 
ards; and  the  productivity  of  scientific  management,  as 
compared  with  that  of  these  other  systems,  may  be  said  to 
vary  in  inverse  proportion  to  the  amount  of  repetition  in 
the  work. 

This  law,  however,  has  to  do  only  with  increasing  mate- 
rial production.  The  feasibility,  or,  better  yet,  the  profit- 
ableness of  the  elementary  analysis  is  affected  by  other 
circumstances.  Scientific  management  would  be  out  of  the 
question  unless  there  were  running  through  the  non-repeti- 
tive work,  elements  practically  constant,  or  subject  only  to 
regular  change  from  job  to  job.  The  cost  of  the  system 
is  reasonable  only  where  the  work  elements  are  simple  and 
extend  on  the  average  through  a  large  number  of  jobs. 
The  all-important  proportion  of  cost  to  profit  is  favorable 
only  where  the  work  units — as  well  as  the  jobs  themselves 
— are  comparatively  large. 

In  general,  to  obtain  the  greatest  profit  there  must  be  a 
good  deal  of  work  handled,  there  should  be  a  marked  simi- 
larity running  through  considerable  portions  of  it,  and  the 
jobs  should  be  of  large  size,  possibly  taking  a  number  of 
hours  for  performance.1  A  balance  must  always  be  struck 
between  the  cost  of  the  studies  and  the  worth  of  the  results.2 

1  On  a  sample  instruction  card  showing  the  system  as  it  existed  at 
Bethlehem  in  1910,  the  analysis  was  in  no  case  carried  as  far  as  work 
elements  which  could  be  done  in  less  than  ten  minutes.    The  jobs  in 
the  machine  shops  where  scientific  management  has  been  applied  often 
take  several  hours.     Of  course,  as  the  number  of  times  that  a  job  is 
repeated  becomes  greater  it  may  become  profitable  to  carry  the  analysis 
further;  in  work  such  as  handkerchief  folding,  the  elements  are  re- 
duced to  small  fractions  of  a  second. 

2  If  Gilbreth's  reorganization  of  bricklaying  is  thought  to  be  an  ex- 


43 1 ]    PRODUCTIVITY  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

2.    THE  EXTENT  TO  WHICH  PLANNING  MAY  BE  PROFITABLY 

CARRIED 

One  could  hardly  imagine  a  great  increase  in  production 
without  accompanying  features  —  as  the  choosing  of  able 
workmen  or  the  taking  of  greater  care  to  supply  the  men 
abundantly  with  work;  some  changes  are  incidental  to,  or 
necessary  consequences  of,  greater  productivity.  But  the 
features  which  constitute  the  second  phase  of  scientific 
management  are  more  than  merely  supplementary ;  they  seek 
recognition  as  an  original  source  of  profit. 

In  the  machine  shop  and  in  some  other  branches  of  in- 
dustry the  most  important  of  these  changes  is  standardiza- 
tion of  tools  and  equipment,  both  because  of  its  own  merits 
and  because  it  is  the  condition  of  progress  along  many  of 

ception  to  the  principle  that  large  non-repetitive  work  is  the  most  profit- 
able field  for  task-setting  based  on  elementary  time  study,  it  may  be 
pointed  out  that  Gilbreth  did  not  claim  that  he  had  drawn  more  initia- 
tive from  his  men,  but  he  attributed  his  success  entirely  to  motion 
study  and  changes  in  the  methods  of  work.  If  shoveling  be  cited,  it 
may  be  observed  that,  though  the  elements  entering  into  shoveling  are 
repeated,  the  work  as  a  whole  is  constantly  varying,  because  of  differ- 
ences in  materials,  height  of  pile,  etc.  Thus  it  cannot  be  brought  under 
ordinary  piece-work.  As  regards  pig-iron  handling,  it  is  probable  that 
a  man  of  Taylor's  energy  could  in  the  long  run  have  obtained  just 
as  hearty  a  co-operation  from%the  men  without  introducing  elementary 
time  study,  provided  he  selected  his  workmen.  Of  course,  without  the 
studies  of  fatigue,  their  efforts,  though  quite  as  earnest,  would  have 
been  less  efficient.  Our  point  is,  not  to  deny  that  elementary  time 
study  has  accomplished  great  results  in  connection  with  repetitive 
work,  but  to  show  that  (if  we  bar  the  gains  due  to  discoveries  of 
better  methods  of  work)  elementary  time  study's  chief  superiority  over 
ordinary  methods  of  piece-rate  fixing  is  in  its  accomplishing  quickly 
and  easily  what  can  be  done  by  the  latter,  if  the  struggle  be  long  enough 
and  vigorous  enough  (cf.  supra,  p.  35,  n.).  The  full  benefits  of  scien- 
tific management  being  realized  at  once,  and  those  of  ordinary  piece- 
rate  systems  comparatively  late,  it  is  obvious  that  the  greatest  super- 
iority of  the  former  is  in  connection  with  jobs  running  for  but  a  short 
time,  if  repeated  at  all. 


158  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [432 

the  other  lines.  While  standardization  accompanies  scien- 
tific management  primarily  because  of  the  necessity  of 
establishing  uniform  conditions  which  will  render  task- 
setting  accurate  and  fair,  nevertheless  in  substituting  for 
the  weaker  parts  of  machines  strong  parts,  and  in  throw- 
ing out  tools  of  old  design  and  introducing  others  of  more 
modern  make,  standardization  transcends  its  original  pur- 
pose and  becomes  the  parent  of  an  efficiency  which  is  no 
longer  a  part  of  management.  The  value  of  this  gain  in 
mechanical  efficiency  is  apt  to  vary  according  to  whether 
the  industry  involved  has  been  the  scene  of  little  or  much 
recent  improvement  in  technical  processes. 

Second  only  to  standardization,  and  in  specific  instances 
of  greater  value,  is  what  is  variously  known  as  routing, 
scheduling,  and  despatching.  We  are  told  that  productivity 
is  often  increased  through  this  means  alone  by  thirty  or 
forty  per  cent,  and  that  on  occasions  it  has  been  observed 
to  actually  double  the  output.  On  the  Canadian  Pacific  rail- 
way despatching  locomotive-repair  work  was  credited  with 
saving  three  days'  time  or  $300  in  expense  in  the  case  of 
each  locomotive  sent  to  the  shops.  Miss  Wyatt  testified 
that  in  some  of  the  departments  of  the  cotton  mill  which 
she  visited  the  gain  seemed  to  be  practically  all  due  to  rout- 
ing. Good  routing  shows  results  perhaps  more  instantan- 
eously and  more  clearly  than  any  of  the  other  features  of 
scientific  management.  No  one  sees  danger  in  the  intro- 
duction of  either  standardized  equipment  or  routing. 

Regarding  the  extension  of  the  authority  of  a  planning 
department  to  small  and  seemingly  personal  matters — as  is 
the  case  when -an  instruction  card  is  issued  for  every  job, 
or  a  workman  is  "  coached  "  in  the  best  way  of  picking  up 
a  brick  or  thrusting  a  shovel — it  may  be  said,  first  of  the 
instruction  card,  that  its  original  application  was  in  con- 
nection with  very  large  work,  where  there  was  an  impor- 


433]    PRODUCTIVITY  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

tant  technical  element  involved,  and  where  the  application 
of  science  could  not  only  save  a  considerable  amount  of  the 
workman's  time,  but  also  reduce  the  operating  expense  of 
heavy  machines;  the  work  was  changed  so  frequently  that 
general  training  could  not  meet  all  of  the  circumstances. 
As  jobs  become  smaller,  the  issuing  of  individual  instruc- 
tion cards  becomes  less  profitable;  as  they  become  less 
technical  or  are  repeated  oftener,  the  cards  become  less 
necessary;  until  finally  their  value  vanishes  altogether. 
But  in  the  Watertown  Arsenal,  where  as  in  other  machine 
shops  the  instruction  card  serves  as  a  connecting  link  be- 
tween an  important  technique  and  the  every-day  work, 
General  Crozier  declares  1  that  "The  saving  in  time  results, 
aside  from  any  increased  efficiency  of  machines,  chiefly 
from  the  effect  of  the  instructions  given  the  workmen,  by 
which  their  effort  is  more  advantageously  applied,  and  will 
involve  no  exhausting  exertion  on  their  part,  nor  such  as 
should  be  disagreeable."  The  central  feature  of  this  in- 
struction is  the  instruction  card. 

Of  intensive  individual  "  coaching,"  it  may  be  said  that 
this  can  be  carried  to  refinement  only  in  cases  where  there 
is  a  great  deal  of  repetition.  In  bricklaying,  in  shoveling, 
in  carrying  pig  iron,  there  is  gain  in  spending  great  effort 
to  eliminate  even  a  very  small,  useless  motion.  However, 
the  public  has  a  greatly  exaggerated  idea  as  to  the  impor- 
tance of  this  side  of  scientific  management.  Its  novelty  has 
*  attracted  attention,  but  in  reality  there  is  little  of  it.  In 
the  typical  plant  where  scientific  management  has  been  in-  : 
troduced,  workmen  are  not  guarded  to  see  whether  they 
hold  their  hammers  at  the  end  or  in  the  middle,  their  steps 
are  not  ordered,  nor  is  their  breathing  regulated.  These 
things  are  not  commercially  worth  while,  and  the  men  who 

1  Report  of  the  Chief  of  Ordinance,  1911,  p.  673. 


160  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [434 

go  farthest  in  this  direction  lose  caste,  more  or  less,  as 
practical  engineers.  The  more  successful  leaders  are  too 
busy  attacking  problems  of  first  importance  to  give  their 
attention  to  such  details.  There  is  a  class  of  jobs  where 
close  supervision  of  motions  pays,  but  of  the  industry  of 
the  country  as  a  whole,  they  constitute  only  a  small  part. 
True,  there  is  a  constant  tendency  to  simplify  and  stand- 
ardize work  to  the  point  where  it  may  be  successfully  stereo- 
typed; but,  on  the  other  hand,  at  just  about  that  point  it  is 
frequently  possible  to  substitute  machines. 

Selection  of  workmen  is  of  the  most  importance  where 
heavy  demands  are  made  on  some  one  faculty.  Thus  on 
heavy  work,  there  is  great  gain  in  employing  sturdy 
men;  on  inspection,  in  using  persons  of  quick  sight  and 
prompt  motor  reaction.  The  kind  of  selection  which 
picks  out  for  all-around  work  men  who  are  above  the  aver- 
age, is  of  course  practiced  by  every  employer  as  far  as 
practicable.  Under  scientific  management,  the  unusually 
high  pay  makes  it  possible  to  carry  this  policy  somewhat 
further.  However,  the  idea  that  super-men  only  are  to  be 
retained  is  not  enforced  in  practice  as  much  as  the  litera- 
ture of  scientific  management  would  suggest.  The  intro- 
duction of  the  system  at  the  Watertown  Arsenal  was 
accompanied  by  no  discharge.  The  old  employees  of  the 
Tabor  and  Link-Belt  concerns  were  retained  under  the  new 
system.  Emerson  and  Gantt  emphasize  the  importance  of 
setting  tasks  that  any  normal  person  can  accomplish.  It 
should  be  noted,  though,  that  Taylor  seems  to  have  always 
been  on  a  keen  lookout  for  able  men;  and  that  there  is 
considerable  attention  given  under  scientific  management  to 
transferring  employees  from  jobs  at  which  they  are  ineffi- 
cient to  others  for  which  they  are  better  fitted ;  promotion, 
too,  is  on  a  more  scientific  basis,  because  the  management 
is  in  possession  of  adequate  records  of  past  achievements, 


.  V 


435]    PRODUCTIVITY  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT    I^I 

and  is  also  in  closer  touch  with  the  men.  But  generally 
speaking,  in  the  case  of  most  of  the  plants  which  have  in- 
stalled scientific  management,  the  selection  and  retention  of 
employees  is  on  a  basis  not  radically  different  from  that  in 
other  shops. 

Improved  methods  of  handling  stores  under  scientific 
management  not  only  facilitate  all  the  other  work  of  the 
shop  and  permit  shipments  to  be  made  more  promptly,  but 
they  also  yield  a  direct  financial  profit  in  that  they  allow  a 
reduction  in  the  amount  of  materials  kept  on  hand.  At 
Watertown,  $122,000  worth  of  materials,  which  had  been 
rendered  superfluous  by  the  introduction  of  scientific  stores- 
keeping,  was  put  into  use  in  a  short  time.  In  the  plant  of 
the  Link-Belt  Company  one-third  less  of  stores  per  unit  of 
output  was  required  after  the  introduction  of  scientific 
management.1  The  cost  of  interest  on  capital,  rent  for 
storage  room,  and  depreciation  was  thus  lightened. 

3.    THE   PLACE  OF  ORGANIZATION   IN   SCIENTIFIC 
MANAGEMENT 

The  creation  of  a  new  and  different  sort  of  directing 
force,   due  to  the  new  obligations  assumed  by  scientific 
management,   gave  Taylor  an   opportunity  to   impress   a 
character  upon  the  field  opened  by  his  work.     From  the 
earliest  days  he  first  secretly  practiced  and  then  openly/ 
advocated  the  use  of  what  he  called  a  functional  manage- 1 
ment,  whose  most  striking  feature  is  the  creation  of  eight! 
bosses  where  one  existed  before.     Functional  management 
has  for  many  been  identical  with  scientific  management;  it 
is  indeed  in  certain  important  shops  the  most  noticeable 

1  Before  crediting  this  last  entirely  to  scientific  management,  we 
should  remember  that  after  the  system's  introduction,  production  was 
carried  on  on  a  somewhat  larger  scale,  which  might  naturally  lead  to 
more  efficient  stores  arrangements  per  unit  of  output. 


162  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [436 

feature  connected  with  the  system.  When  the  values  of 
the  different  sides  of  scientific  management  are  weighed, 
however,  it  seems  that  that  part  of  the  system  which  con- 
sists in  giving  a  precise  form  to  organization  is  not  nearly 
so  essential  as  are  the  prime  ends  for  the  purpose  of  accom- 
lishing  which  this  last  phase  was  created. 

As  proof  of  this,  it  is  only  necessary  to  point  out  two 
other  schemes  of  organization  which  bring  practically  as 
good  results  and  indeed  possess  certain  distinct  advantages. 
The  first  is  the  "  line  and  staff "  system  of  Harrington 
Emerson,  which,  through  centering  authority  in  one  boss, 
and  drawing  upon  a  large  staff  for  knowledge,  seeks  to  do 
away  with  the  weakness  which  comes  from  making  a  work- 
man responsible  to  as  many  as  eight  superiors.  The  second 
is  the  "departmental  system"  described  by  John  C.  Duncan 
as  having  come  almost  unconsciously  into  use  in  hundreds 
of  plants.  The  work  is  divided  between  small  departments, 
each  under  the  absolute  control  of  one  man.  In  a  machine 
shop,  for  instance,  one  department  might  be  composed  of 
the  men  running  large  machine  tools;  another,  of  those 
erecting  large  parts  of  engines ;  a  third,  of  the  valve-setting 
gang;  a  fourth,  of  those  in  charge  of  tool-rooms;  a  fifth, 
of  those  in  charge  of  stores;  a  sixth,  of  the  riggers  or 
crane  men;  a  seventh,  of  repair  men;  and  an  eighth  of 
those  entrusted  with  tool-making  and  grinding.  Thus  a 
large  part  of  the  functional  arrangement  is  preserved,  but 
\  there  is  no  division  of  authority.  Duncan  thinks  this  latter 
plan  superior  to  that  of  having  functional  foremen.  "As 
a  matter  of  fact,  so  many  bosses  really  hinder  the  work. 
They  irritate  the  men  and  are  expensive  to  keep  up.  .  .  ."  * 
To  recapitulate,  the  productivity  of  reorganization  is, 
from  one  point  of  view,  equal  to  that  of  the  whole  of  scien- 
tific management,  in  that  without  some  kind  of  enlarge- 

1  The  Principles  of  Industrial  Management,  p.  192. 


437]    PRODUCTIVITY  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

ment  and  rearrangement  in  the  directing  force  the  system 
could  never  be  operated.  But  the  problem  as  to  whether  that 
directing  force  shall  be  called  functional  foremen,  or  staff, 
or  department  heads,  will  probably  be  solved  by  various 
firms  in  different  ways  with  almost  equal  satisfaction.  The 
one  principle  which  may  be  safely  laid  down  is  that  scien- 
tific management  in  its  enlarged  organization  offers  an 
opportunity  for  profitable  specialization  along  compara- 
tively narrow  lines.  This  opportunity  has  been  very  gen- 
erally utilized. 

4.    HOW   MUCH   CAN  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  INCREASE 
THE    NATIONAL   INCOME? 

The  productivity  of  scientific  management  cannot  be  cal- 
culated by  adding  together  the  values  of  its  various  fea- 
tures. A  case  may  easily  be  imagined  where  a  given  in- 
crease in  output  would  figure  in  one  connection  as  due  to 
selection  of  workmen,  in  another  as  the  result  of  a  bonus, 
in  another  as  rendered  possible  by  routing,  and  in  another 
as  brought  about  by  functional  management.  For  perhaps 
if  any  one  of  these  various  elements  had  been  missing  the 
gain  would  not  have  been  effected,  and  so  to  each  belongs 
the  credit. 

Estimates  as  to  the  total  productivity  of  scientific  man- 
agement have  been  m3.de  for  various  specific  plants  as  fol- 
lows: The  Tabor  Manufacturing  Company's  product  is 
now  said  to  be  worth  two  and  a  half  times  as  much,  and 
to  be  in  quantity  three  times  as  great  as  before  the  intro- 
duction of  scientific  management — this  in  spite  of  a  reduc- 
tion in  the  number  of  employees.  The  productive  efficiency 
of  the  Link-Belt  plant  has  been  doubled.  The  Watertown 
Arsenal  estimates  were  reduced  by  $240,000.  In  the  cotton 
industry,  productivity  was  increased  enough  to  cover  an 
advance  in  wages  amounting  to  about  30  per  cent.  For  the 


164  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [438 

Ferracute  Machine  Company,  the  expense  of  doing  a  large 
number  of  jobs  was  reduced  to  47  per  cent  of  what  it  had 
been,  which  equals  a  new  productivity  amounting  to  213 
per  cent  of  the  old.  Under  scientific  management  the  aver- 
age individual  handles  quantities  of  pig  iron  equal  to  380 
per  cent  of  his  former  task.  Yard  laborers  at  Bethlehem 
(shoveling)  increased  their  output  to  368  per  cent.  Brick- 
layers perform  tasks  enlarged  to  270  per  cent.  As  many 
bicycle  balls  were  inspected  by  35  girls  as  had  been  handled 
formerly  by  120.  On  the  Santa  Fe,  it  was  estimated  that 
$1,250,000  was  saved  in  one  year. 

There  are  dangers,  however,  in  taking  a  specific  example 
of  the  success  of  scientific  management,  and  regarding  it 
as  illustrative  of  what  the  system  is  capable  of  doing.  The 
test  of  measuring  the  material  output  of  a  concern  before 
and  after  the  introduction  of  scientific  management  is  in 
some  cases  a  good  criterion.  In  the  instance  of  a  great 
deal  of  the  best  work,  however,  the  use  of  high-speed  steel 
has  had  much  to  do  with  multiplying  the  product.  Thus 
the  achievements  in  the  Tabor,  Link-Belt,  and  Watertown 
Arsenal  plants  have  been  in  no  small  measure  due  to  bring- 
ing machines  and  methods  of  work  into  harmony  with  this 
technical  improvement.  Again,  a  comparison  of  profits  is 
apt  to  be  misleading,  since  gain  varies  with  commercial  re- 
lations quite  as  much  as  with  good  or  bad  management. 
Thus  the  Tabor  Manufacturing  Company  and  the  New 
England  Butt  Company,1  two  celebrated  examples  of  plants 
operating  under  scientific  management,  have  recently  been 
under  a  cloud.  If  we  refrain  from  attributing  this  to  their 
management  systems,  then  we  should  be  cautious  about 
crediting  the  profit  in  an  undertaking  to  scientific  manage- 
ment. There  is  furthermore  a  possibility  that  the  reason 

1  See  supra,  p.  in. 


439]    PRODUCTIVITY  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT    ^ 

why  reorganization  is  attempted  in  a  plant  is  because  effi- 
ciency is  at  a  very  low  ebb.  Prosperous  concerns  rarely 
desire  to  change  so  fundamental  a  thing  as  their  organiza- 
tion. Thus  the  Tabor  enterprise  was  previously  unprofit- 
able, and  badly  managed.  Even  where  a  plant  is  forging 
ahead,  and  there  seems  to  be  no  question  but  that  the  in- 
crease is  due  to  scientific  management,  it  may  well  be  that 
it  was  partly  the  individual  genius  of  some  unusually  able 
man  which  rendered  the  reorganization  successful.  Other 
able  men  who  know  nothing  of  scientific  management  might 
possibly  be  making  just  as  great  increases  in  the  produc- 
tivity of  their  plants. 

These  considerations  are  not  mentioned  with  the  idea  of 
showing  that  scientific  management  has  failed  to  increase 
productivity,  for  they  do  not  prove  that.  They  are  de- 
signed merely  to  point  out  the  difficulties  connected  with 
accepting  as  at  all  exact  many  of  the  various  estimates  as 
to  what  the  system  has  accomplished.  We  should  profit  by 
the  experience  of  those  who  once  thought  that  they  could 
make  such  calculations  with  reference  to  the  Santa  Fe,  but 
who  have  long  since  been  convinced  that  the  problem  is 
too  complicated  for  even  a  rough  solution. 

There  are,  however,  certain  general  conclusions  which 
may  be  stated  with  reference  to  the  power  of  scientific 
management  to  increase  the  national  income.  There  can 
be  no  question  but  that  there  are  great  numbers  of  men 
who  are  glad  to  do  far  more  work  than  has  been  their  cus- 
tom, in  return  for  extra  pay  amounting  to  20  per  cent,  30 
per  cent,  and  up.  The  fact  that  employers  are  eager  to 
give  them  this  bonus  shows  that  their  increased  productiv- 
ity is  greater  than — let  us  say — 30  per  cent.  Indeed,  it 
seems  probable  that  on  many  kinds  of  work  the  increased 
worth  of  employees  runs  well  up  towards  100  per  cent. 

Before  jumping  to  conclusions  as  to  how  great  an  in- 


1 66  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [44O 

dustrial  advance  can  be  effected  by  the  working-out  of  this 
scheme,  one  must  take  into  consideration  the  fact  that  not 
all  the  employees  in  any  shop  can  be  put  on  a  bonus.  Fur- 
theV,  only  a  small  per  cent  (according  to  Taylor,1  17  per 
cent)  of  this  country's  industry  is  even  a  field  for  interest- 
arousing  devices.  Such  are  needed  only  where  industry  is 
organized  on  a  considerable  scale — "coordinated/'  as  Tay- 
lor put  it  —  and  hence  subject  to  the  evils  of  ordinary 
wage  systems  and  amenable  to  improvement  under  scien- 
tific management.  The  desirability  of  the  speeding-up 
side  of  scientific  management  is  further  somewhat  ques- 
tionable. There  is  probably  a  net  gain  to  the  men,  or  they 
would  not  take  it  up.  But  there  is  a  cost.  And  a  world 
in  which  everybody  exerted  himself  twice  as  much,  would 
hardly  be  an  ideal  triumph  of  man  over  his  environment. 

So  it  is  that,  while  the  greatest  gain  is  perhaps  still  along 
the  first  side  of  scientific  management,  more  hopes  are  con- 
nected with  the  second  phase,  which  aims  to  put  brains 
rather  than  muscle  into  the  work.  Close  supervision  is  in- 
deed increasing  the  productivity  of  workers  to  a  degree  of 
great  consequence  in  the  industrial  world.  But  when  man- 
agement joins  hands  with  invention,  and  draws  to  itself 
talented  men,  who  not  only  study  the  orthodox  technique 
of  industry,  but  also  simplify,  rationalize,  and  coordinate 
the  activities  of  all  the  members  of  the  working  force,  then 
scientific  management  becomes  the  architect  of  a  technical 
and  social  mechanism  which  knows  no  limit  of  perfection. 
It  adds  force  to  the  process  of  cumulative  change,  whose 
discoveries  may  carry  us  into  regions  of  which  we  do  not 
yet  dream.  Most  of  this  is,  of  course,  in  the  future,  and  its 
value  can  only  be  determined  as  industry  after  industry  is 
conquered  and  re-conquered.  The  achievements  of  the 
past,  however,  suggest  a  lucrative  development. 

1  Testimony  before  the  Industrial  Relations  Commission,  April,  1914. 


441  ]    PRODUCTIVITY  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT    rfj 

The  hope  for  this  second  phase  of  scientific  management 
is  in  general  greatest  where  industry  is  on  a  large  scale 
and  under  a  centralized  authority.  Specialization  may  then 
be  carried  farther;  more  widely  applicable  studies  may  be 
made;  a  more  refined  coordination  is  practicable.1  It  does 
not  follow  that  all  the  gains  of  centralized  industry  come 
only  when  there  is  one  financial  control.  Knowledge  may 
be  unified  through  the  pilgrimages  of  experts  from  place 
to  place,  picking  up  intelligence  here  and  distributing  it 
there.  The  advantages  of  specialization  and  large-scale 
production  may  be  attained  by  very  small  concerns,  which 
manufacture  for  sale  to  others,  much  as  one  department  of 
a  modern  factory  manufactures  for  other  departments.  As 
business  is  engaged  in  at  present,  however,  the  different 
branches  of  an  industry  can  be  operated  more  smoothly 
under  a  single  financial  control. 

If  the  scientific  determination  of  methods  of  factory 
operation  is  found  to  be  especially  profitable  in  connection 
with  large-scale  production,  it  is  possible  that  this  very  fact 
will  cause  an  enlargement  of  the  latter  field.  Centraliza- 
tion may  be  pushed,  simply  to  render  possible  the  gains  of 
scientific  management.  Scientific  management  may  further 
be  a  very  potent  force  towards  concentration,  inasmuch  as 
its  extensive  records  furnish  a  check  upon  the  faithfulness 
of  employees  in  such  a  way  as  to  eliminate  much  of  the 
economic  loss  said  to  accompany  big  business.  Scientific 
management  may,  in  short,  create  its  own  field,  and  the 
productivity  of  the  system  may  prove  much  greater  than  an 
estimate  obtained  by  calculating  the  gain  possible  in  each 
plant  as  industry  is  now  organized  would  indicate. 

Some  persons,  looking  forward  into  the  distant  future, 

1  Morris  L.  Cooke  says  that  in  the  past  the  printing  industry  has  been 
slow  hi  making  improvements  because  the  large  number  of  small  es- 
tablishments fosters  conservatism. 


1 68  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [442 

have  been  moved  to  declare  that  the  development  of  scien- 
tific management  will  eventually  prove  to  have  been  as 
epoch-making  as  the  invention  of  machinery.  This  claim 
we  would  think  futile  if  for  no  other  reason  than  the  fact 
that  scientific  management  itself  would  never  have  come 
into  existence  had  it  not  been  for  the  creation  of  modern 
industry  through  the  industrial  revolution.  All  that  the 
system  may  claim  for  itself  must  in  turn  be  attributed  to 
the  invention  of  machinery.  In  addition  to  this,  scientific 
management  is  not  distinct  enough  from  science,  industrial 
technique,  and  the  earlier  forms  of  management,  to  justify 
its  being  regarded  as  an  original  and  independent  thing 
like  the  industrial  revolution.  Especially  in  connection  with 
the  more  advanced  achievements  of  the  future  would  it  be 
hard  to  draw  a  line  between  the  effects  of  the  new  man- 
agement and  those  of  a  great  host  of  other  contemporary 
movements.  We  must,  therefore,  be  content  to  regard 
scientific  management  as  part  of  a  general  progress,  a  pass- 
ing form,  which,  long  before  it  has  realized  its  potentiali- 
ties, will  have  outgrown  some  of  its  features  and  merged 
the  rest  with  those  of  other  systems,  losing  its  own  iden- 
tity in  that  of  a  greater  stream.1 

1  To  give  Mr.  Taylor's  view  as  to  the  productivity  of  scientific  man- 
agement :  It  has  already  "  been  introduced  in  a  great  number  and 
variety  of  industries  in  this  country,  to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  and 
in  those  companies  which  have  come  under  scientific  management  it  is, 
I  think,  safe  and  conservative  to  say  that  the  output  of  the  individual 
workman  has  been,  on  the  average,  doubled."  (Testimony  before 
special  House  committee,  Hearings,  p.  1389.)  In  the  future,  "The 
general  adoption  of  scientific  management  would  readily  ....  double 
the  productivity  of  the  average  man  engaged  in  industrial  work." 
(Principles  of  Scientific  Management,  p.  142.)  Not  only  would  this 
be  true  with  regard  to  manufacturing  establishments,  but  also  "  the 
same  principles  can  be  applied  with  equal  force  to  all  social  activities : 
to  the  management  of  our  homes ;  the  management  of  our  farms ;  the 
management  of  the  business  of  our  tradesmen,  large  and  small;  of 
our  churches,  our  philanthropic  institutions,  our  universities,  and  our 
governmental  departments."  (Ibid.,  p.  8.) 


CHAPTER  VII 

SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  AS  A  SOLUTION  OF  THE  LABOR 

PROBLEM 

In  various  passages  in  the  preceding  chapters  attention  . 
has  been  centered  upon  the  attempt  of  scientific  manage-  j 
merit  to  arouse  the  initiative  of  the  individual  workman.  I 
This  task,  it  should  be  noted  here,  and  not  the  existence! 
of  unions,  constitutes,  according  to  Mr.  Taylor,  the  most! 
serious  problem  of   factory  management.      Thus,   risk  in* 
production  "  arises  not  so  much  from  the  evident  misman- 
agement, which  plainly  discloses  itself  through  occasional 
strikes  and  similar  troubles,  as  from  the  daily  more  insid- 
ious and  fatal  failure  on  the  part  of  the  superintendents  to 
secure  anything  even  approaching  the  maximum  work  from 
their  men  and  machines."  *     It  may  be  said,  therefore,  that 
in  explaining  elementary  time  study,  task-setting,  and  the 
bonus,  we  have  already  discussed  what  the  organization 
experts  regard  as  the  solution  of  the  big  end  of  the  labor 
problem.     There  is,   however,   another  "  labor  problem." 
Scientific  management  not  only  claims  to  better  the  rela- 
tions between  the  individual  and  the  management,  but  it 
also  professes  to  find  a  solution  for  the  strike  problem,  and 
to  effect  vitally  the   tendency  of   workmen   to  organize. 
This,  the  real  "  labor  problem,"  2  as  the  term  is  commonly 

1  "  A  Piece-Rate  System,"  Transactions  of  the  American  Society  of 
Mechanical  Engineers,  vol.  xvi,  p.  860. 

2  We  have  in  this  treatise  (somewhat  arbitrarily)  subtracted  from  the 
term  "  labor  problem  "  its  broader  significance  which  involves  the  gen- 
eral welfare  of  the  working  classes. 

443]  169 


170  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

used,  will  be  the  subject  of  discussion  in  the  present 
chapter. 

I.    THE   VIEWS   OF   THE   ORGANIZATION    EXPERTS    WITH    RE- 
SPECT  TO   TRADE   UNIONS 

One  can  get  the  point  of  view  of  the  organization  ex- 
perts respecting  trade  unions  only  by  first  looking,  as  if 
through  their  eyes,  at  the  industrial  conditions  against 
which  their  system  is  a  protest.  When  Frederick  W.  Tay- 
lor decided  to  develop  a  scientific  management,  his  analysis 
of  ordinary  industrial  relations  started  with  the  observation 
that  antagonism  amounting  almost  to  war  now  separates 
employers  and  men.  The  primary  reason  for  this  state  of 
affairs  is  the  fact  that  both  profits  and  wages  are  drawn 
from  one  fund,  the  excess  of  selling  price  over  expense. 

Thus  it  is  over  this  division  of  the  surplus  that  most  of  the 
trouble  has  arisen  .  .  .  Gradually  the  two  sides  have  come 
to  look  upon  one  another  as  antagonists,  and  at  times  as  even 
enemies — pulling  apart  and  matching  the  strength  of  the  one 
against  the  strength  of  the  other.1 

*       The  natural  gulf  between  employers  and  men  is  widened 

1  because  the  men  have  an  idea  that  it  is  to  their  interest  to 

I  restrict  output.    The  attempt  to  restrict  output,  Taylor  de- 

]  clares,  dates  back  to  the  introduction  gof  the  power-loom, 

the  fear  that  machinery  would  cause  unemployment  having 

then  bred  bitter  opposition  and  much  violence  on  the*  part 

of  the  impoverished  hand- weavers.    Though  the  abler  labor 

leaders  of  to-day  hold  that  improvement  in  manufacturing 

technique  is  beneficial  to  all,  they,  too,  are  on  their  guard 

against  the  creation  of  high  records  by  workmen,  lest  these 

be  used  as  an  excuse  for  cutting  piece-rates  or  speeding 

up  the  men. 

1  Taylor,  Hearings  before  Special  Committee  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives to  Investigate  the  Taylor  and  Other  Systems  of  Shop  Man- 
agement, p.  1388. 


445]  SOLUTION  OF  THE  LABOR  PROBLEM 

Conflict  over  the  division  of  the  surplus,  and  this  struggle 
to  raise  or  lower  output,  together  with  the  often  inhuman 
policy  of  manufacturers  towards  hours  and  working  con- 
ditions, have  made  it  necessary  for  the  employees  to  organ- 
ize. Industry  has  been  rent  asunder  by  the  warfare  be- 
tween employers'  associations  on  the  one  hand,  and  labor 
unions  on  the  other.  Taylor  recognized  this  development  as 
natural  under  the  circumstances,  certainly  as  far  as  the  men 
were  concerned.  He  was  not  bitter  in  his  attitude  towards 
either  leaders  or  men,  as  evidenced  by  the  following  typical 
statement : *  ".  .  .  while  I  shall  have  to  say  quite  a  little 
in  the  way  of  blame  as  to  the  views  and  acts  of  certain 
labor  leaders  during  my  talk,  in  the  main  I  look  upon  them 
as  strictly  honest,  upright,  straightforward  men.'*  More- 
over, many  years  earlier,  when  Taylor  could  not  yet  have 
had  his  later  strong  motive  for  courting  favor  with  labor 
men,  he  said : 2 

The  writer  is  far  from  taking  the  view  held  by  many  manu- 
facturers that  labor  unions  are  an  almost  unmitigated  detri- 
ment to  those  who  join  them,  as  well  as  to  employers  and  the 
general  public.  The  labor  unions — particularly  the  trades 
unions  of  England — have  rendered  a  great  service  not  only  to 
their  members,  but  to  the  world,  in  shortening  the  hours  of 
labor  and  in  modifying  the  hardships  and  improving  the 
conditions  of  wage  workers. 

However,  labor  unions  were  founded  and  owe  their  present 
usefulness  to  the  existence  of  the  above  state  of  warfare, 
an  industrial  system  which,  according  to  Mr.  Taylor,  is 
entirely  wrong.  Mr.  Taylor,  therefore,  acknowledged  that 
under  prevailing  circumstances  unions  are  desirable.  But, 
in  his  view,  the  circumstances  themselves  need  to  be 
changed,  and  can  be  changed. 

1  Hearings,  op.  cit.,  p.  1380. 

*  "  A  Piece-Rate  System,"  Transactions,  vol.  xvi,  p.  882. 


SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [446 

r  The  central  idea  in  Taylor's  new  industrial  system  is  the 
substitution  of  "  harmony  "  for  "  antagonism  " :  the  de- 
velopment of  a  new  "  mental  attitude  "  on  the  part  of  the 
employers  and  the  employees  towards  the  work,  according 
to  which  they  cooperate  instead  of  contend  with  one  an- 
other. The  virtue  in  scientific  management  that  is  said  to 
bring  about  this  change  is,  first,  the  elimination  of  grounds 
for  contention  by  determining  through  scientific  analysis 
the  proper  task,  wage,  and  working-day  for  each  individual, 
the  results  being  determined  according  to  the  laws  of 
human  nature  and  in  a  spirit  of  fairness  and  liberality; 
and  second,  the  introduction  of  a  positive  teaching  that  the 
management  should  cultivate  good  feeling  and  mutual  un- 
derstanding in  its  relations  with  the  men.  The  more  ob- 
viously influential  of  these  two  means  of  encouraging  better 
relations  is  the  first;  it  is  effective  directly  in  that  it  de- 
stroys grounds  for  dispute;  and  indirectly,  in  that  the 
accompanying  enlargement  in  the  numbers  and  activity  of 
the  management  means  that  more  personal  attention  may 
be  given  to  the  men,  and  more  of  the  men  may  be  promoted 
to  positions  of  responsibility.  Mr.  Taylor,  however,  laid 
more  stress  on  the  second  cause,  and  not  without  some  justi- 
fication ;  for  the  dozen  or  so  leaders  most  prominent  in  the 
scientific-management  movement  have  indeed  been  unusu- 
ally well  disposed  towards  their  men,  and  it,  is  this  attitude 
which  is  partly  responsible  for  the  good  feeling  which 
prevails  in  their  shops.  But  whichever  be  the  explanation 
adopted,  there  is  abundant  testimony  to  the  effect  that  the 
alleged  harmony  does  in  many  cases  materialize ;  and  so  it 
must  be  dealt  with  as  a  reality,  and  given  due  recognition 
as  a  possible  solution  of  the  labor  situation.1 

1  While  visiting  the  shop  of  the  Link-Belt  Company,  the  writer  was 
strongly  impressed  by  the  cordial  feeling  existing  between  the  manage- 
ment and  the  men.  -The  superitendent,  as  well  as  the  president  of  the 


447]     SOLUTION  OF  THE  LABOR  PROBLEM 

Under  the  system  thus  described,  what  place  do  the  sci-  I 
entific-management  experts  reserve  for  the  trade  jqa-ion  ? 
Scientific  management  may  permit  the  organizations  to  re- 
main; but,  if  so,  they  are  at  least  to  be  shorn  of  all  their 
more  important  former  functions.  As  one  reason  for 
this,  the  experts  explain  that  scientific  management  is  too 
complicated  for  the  men  to  understand;  therefore  they 
should  have  no  control  over  it.  But  a  much  more  funda-1 
mental  reason  why  the  unions  must  be  devitalized  is  that 
under  the  new  -system  there  is  nothing  for  them  to  look 
after.  Harmony  has  now  taken  the  place  of  antagonism. 
The  great  questions  of  wages,  hours,  and  tasks  are  to  be  de- 
cided by  science  rather  than  by  war.  The  one  real  problem 
— that  which  is  basic  in  all  industry  everywhere — is  to  in- 
crease the  output,  to  make  the  surplus  so  enormously  great 
and  the  share  of  each  individual  so  considerable,  that  there 
will  no  longer  be  a  temptation — as  indeed  there  never  has 
been  a  use — to  quarrel  over  the  division  of  the  profits.  In 
attaining  this  one  great  end  management  and  men  are 
equally  interested.  The  welfare  of  each  individual  is  the 
gain  of  every  other.  All  are  co-partners. 

Among  the  various  persons  cooperating,  the  scientific-' 
management  men  say  that  the  more  intelligent  should  rule ; 
the  workmen  should  leave  the  working-out  of  the  science 
of  wages  and  tasks,  as  well  as  all  important  direction  of 
industry,  to  those  best  fitted  for  the  same,  namely,  the 
management.  Is  it  not  ridiculous  to  decide  how  a  shop 
should  be  run  by  "counting  noses"?  What  possible  in- 
telligence could  be  added  through  the  collective  bargain? 
In  short,  the  philosophy  of  scientific  management  holds 

company,  professed  to  know  all  the  employees  by  name.  The  super- 
intendent has  taken  a  personal  interest  in  their  individual  welfare,  tried 
to  help  various  ones  to  good  positions,  and  frequently  given  more 
thought  to  the  men's  interests  than  have  the  latter  themselves. 


SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [448 

that  a  good  management,  like  a  good  father,  directs  those 
under  its  care  in  ways  more  satisfactory  than  the  latter 
could  themselves  choose.  Above  all,  workmen  should  be 
treated  individually  and  according  to  their  personal  pecu- 
liarities, not  "  herded  "  together  in  masses. 

Thus,  while  Taylor  expressed  himself  as  willing  that 

/unions  should  exist  to  carry  on  educational  and  welfare 

1  work  among  their  members,  he  was,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  op- 

I  posed  to  organizations  of  the  type  that  concern  themselves 

I  with  wages,  hours,  and  output.     As  these  are  the  prime 

/  ends  of  modern  unionism,  we  may  conclude  that  organized 

1    labor  has  met  with  scientific  management's  disapproval.1 

Another,  and  perhaps  a  sounder,  way  of  looking  at  the 
situation  is  that  expressed  by  H.  K.  Hathaway.  He  says 
that  to  organized  labor  in  itself  scientific  management  h^s 
no  objection,  but  that  the  body  of  labor-union  doctrine  and 
policy  is  permeated  by  opposition  to  progressive  industry.2 
It  is  because  scientific  management  and  the  trade  unions 
are  seeking  opposite  ends  that  they  are  hostile.3 

1  "  Mr.  Godfrey.    Can  you  say  in  one  syllable  what  the  relation  of  the 
labor  unions  should  be  to  scientific  management? 

"  Mr.  Taylor.  Of  all  the  devices  in  the  world  they  ought  to  look 
upon  scientific  management  as  the  best  friend  that  they  have.  It  is 
doing  in  the  most  efficient  way  every  solitary  good  thing  that  the  labor 
unions  have  tried  to  do  for  the  workman  and  it  has  corrected  the  one 
bad  thing  that  the  unions  are  doing — curtailment  of  output.  That  is 
the  one  bad  thing  they  are  doing."  Testimony  before  special  House 
committee,  Hearings,  p.  1508. 

2  It  is  against  certain  tendencies  of  trade-unionism  most  fully  exem- 
plified in  England  that  Taylor  lodged  his  strongest  protest:    He  said 
that  an  investigation  covering  thirty  trades  showed  that  English  work- 
men produce  less  than  one-third  as  much  as  American  workmen.    (Tay- 
lor,  testimony  before  Industrial  Relations   Commission    [Washington, 
April,   1914],  typewritten  Hearings,   p.   1225.)      The   English  situation 
Taylor  regarded  as  a  triumph  of  trade-union  principle. 

3  For  the  views  of  the  trade  unions  with  respect  to  scientific  manage- 
ment, cf.  H.  B.  Drury,  "Organized  Labor  and  Scientific  Management," 
Industrial  Engineering,  March,  April,  May,  1914. 


449]  SOLUTION  OF  THE  LABOR  PROBLEM  ^^ 

2.    A  SKETCH  OF  THE  RELATIONS  BETWEEN  SCIENTIFIC 
MANAGEMENT  AND  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

The  story  of  the  actual  relations  between  scientific  man- 
agement and  organized  labor  is  shorter  than  might  be  ex- 
pected considering  the  strength  and  conflicting  ideals  of  the 
two  forces,  for  the  reason  that  until  recently  the  move- 
ments have  not  had  many  points  of  contact.  Thus  Phila- 
delphia, the  birthplace  of  scientific  management,  the  home 
of  Taylor  and  a  group  of  other  leaders,  and  the  seat  of  the 
most  advanced  development  of  the  system,  is  not  a  strongly 
unionized  center.  H.  K.  Hathaway,  speaking  of  machine 
shops,  testified  before  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion that  he  did  not  know  of  a  closed  shop  in  the  city.1 
Likewise  in  the  case  of  the  Bethlehem  Steel  Company,  it 
was  said  that  in  the  early  part  of  1910  not  a  single  em- 
ployee was  a  member  of  a  trade  union ; 2  and  we  are  told 
that  on  the  Santa  Fe  railway  the  bonus  system  does  not 
apply  to  any  union  men.3 

Though  for  a  long  time  there  was  thus  little  or  no  direct 
contact  in  connection  with  which  an  issue  could  develop 
between  scientific  management  and  organized  labor,  the 
new  system  may,  nevertheless,  have  sometimes  been  used 
to  prevent  the  possibility  of  unions  forming,  or  to  ward  off 
strikes.  Harrington  Emerson  was  called  to  the  Santa  Fe 
immediately  following  a  strike  among  the  machinists, 
boilermakers,  and  blacksmiths.  The  Tabor  Manufacturing 
Company  had  been  inconvenienced  by  labor  troubles 

1  Evidence   Taken  by  the  Interstate  Commerce   Commission  in   the 
Matter  of  Proposed  Advances  in  Freight  Rates  by  Carriers,  (1910),  p. 
2672. 

2  Report  on  Strike  at  Bethlehem  Steel  Works,  Sen.  Doc.  no.  521,  61 
C,  2  S. 

8  According  to  Vice- President  W.  B.  Storey,  Correspondence,  March 
17,  1914- 


SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [450 

shortly  before  it  sought  reorganization.  One  of  the  best 
known  experts  once  spoke  to  us  with  satisfaction  of  the 
manner  in  which,  in  a  certain  factory  where  there  had  been 
a  number  of  union  men,  the  labor  organization  had,  upon 
the  introduction  of  scientific  management,  gradually  disin- 
tegrated. Frederick  W.  Taylor  himself  told  the  Industrial 
Relations  Commission  (Hearings,  April,  1914)  that  mem- 
bers of  labor  unions  had  left  in  large  numbers  at  Midvale, 
Bethlehem,  Tabor,  Link-Belt,  and  to  a  certain  extent  every 
company  where  he  had  ever  been.  Thus,  while  for  many 
years  there  appears  to  have  been  no  rupture  between  the 
two  movements,  it  is  possible  that  from  the  very  first  scien- 
tific management  was  here  and  there  retarding  the  growth 
of  the  union  idea,  through  building  up  loyalty  to  the  man- 
agement. 

It  is  of  interest  to  note  the  effects  of  scientific  manage- 
ment on  the  labor  problem  in  those  earlier  years  when  its 
development  was  carried  on  comparatively  quietly;  for  the 
investigation  shows  that  between  the  system  and  the  men 
who  work  immediately  under  it  there  is  no  original  cause 
for  quarrel.  From  1882  (when  the  system  was  started) 
until  1911,  a  period  of  approximately  thirty  years,  there 
was  not  a  single  strike  under  it,1  and  this  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  it  was  carried  on  primarily  in  the  steel  industry, 
which  was  subject  to  a  great  many  disturbances.  For  in- 
stance, in  the  general  strike  in  Philadelphia,  one  man  only 
went  out  at  the  Tabor  plant,  while  at  the  Baldwin  Loco- 
motive shops  across  the  street  two  thousand  struck.2  This 
is  said  to  be  typical  of  experiences  which  have  occurred 
again  and  again. 

1  Taylor,  before  special  House  committee,  Hearings,  p.  1390. 

"Hathaway,  before  Interstate   Commerce  Commission,  Evidence,   p. 
2671. 


45 1  ]     SOLUTION  OF  THE  LABOR  PROBLEM 

That  the  early  gulf  between  scientific  management  and 
organized  labor  was  partly  a  matter  of  accident,  or  at  least 
one  not  incapable  of  being  bridged  over,  would  seem  to 
be  indicated  by  the  fact  that  with  the  spread  of  the  system 
into  new  parts  of  the  country  and  into  a  greater  variety  of 
industries,  the  principles  have  at  points  met  with  a  rather 
favorable  reception  from  union  men.  In  most  shops,  in- 
deed, the  numbers  of  union  men  are  small  and  their  influ- 
ence insignificant.1  But  in  certain  cases,  as  in  bricklaying2 
and  printing,3  the  leading  features  of  scientific  manage- 
ment have  been  introduced  into  closed  shops.  In  one  case 
at  least  the  collective  bargain  has  been  utilized.4 

In  general,  however,  the  passing  years  have  brought  in- 
tensified opposition  rather  than  cooperation  between  scien- 
tific management  and  organized  labor.  Serious  opposition 
may  be  said  to  have  been  begun  in  1911,  immediately  after 
certain  testimony  presented  before  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  revealed  to  the  country  the  strong  move- 
ment setting  towards  scientific  management.  National 
labor  leaders,  wideawake  as  to  what  might  happen  in  the 
future,  decided  that  the  new  movement  was  a  menace  to 
their  organization,  and  at  once  inaugurated  an  attack.  The 
opposition  reached  its  culmination  when  in  1913  and  1914 

1  The  managers  may  state  that  they  have  a  few  union  men,  but  don't 
know  exactly  how  many — in  fact  don't  pay  much  attention  to   such 
matters — which  shows,  of  course,  that  the  unions  might  as  well  not 
exist.     See  Hathaway's  testimony  before  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission, Evidence,  p.  2672. 

2  See  supra,  pp.  125-6. 

8  John  H.  Williams,  before  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  Evi- 
dence, p.  2781. 

4  See  infra,  p.  187.  Scientific  management  operating  under  the  col- 
lective bargain,  is,  however,  a  very  rare  phenomenon.  Mr.  Taylor 
more  than  once  declared  his  ignorance  of  any  such  cases.  See  testi- 
mony (January,  1912)  before  special  House  committee,  Hearings, 
p.  1444,  and  again,  p.  1508. 


SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

the  annual  conventions  of  the  American  Federation  of 
Labor  adopted  resolutions  condemning  the  system.  The 
arguments  advanced,  having  to  do  with  the  human  side  of 
industrial  life,  will  be  discussed  in  the  next  chapter.  Here 
it  is  only  necessary  to  state  that  the  present  opposition  was 
started  in  very  high  labor  quarters,  that  it  was  probably 
adopted  more  as  a  policy  for  the  future  than  because  of 
serious  damage  done  in  the  past,  and  that  it  has  centered 
about  the  installation  of  scientific  management  in  the  Gov- 
ernment arsenal  at  Watertown.  The  attack  there,  having 
gained  the  ear  of  Congress,  has  met  with  at  least  tem- 
porary success.1  But  outside  of  the  Government  service, 
the  opposition  does  not  seem  to  have  retarded  very  much 
the  introduction  of  the  system.  In  plants  that  have  had 
a  mind  to  install  it  there  has  usually  been  no  serious 
trouble.  However,  the  agitation  has  aroused  in  working- 
men,  as  well  as  in  the  general  public,  an  interest  in  the 
question  as  to  whether  scientific  management  is  right  or 
wrong.  Especially  is  the  public  desirous  of  solving  the 
problem  of  the  relationship  between  scientific  management 
and  the  unions.2 

3.    IS    SCIENTIFIC    MANAGEMENT    A    SATISFACTORY    SUBSTI- 
TUTE FOR  THE  COLLECTIVE  BARGAIN? 

To  state  the  precise  point  at  issue  it  may  be  said  that 
during  the  last  half-century  the  leaders  of  public  opinion 
in  matters  concerning  industrial  relations  have  come  to 
look  with  favor  upon  the  organization  of  workmen.  Even 

1  For  outline  of  the  principal  events  connected  with  this  struggle  at 
Watertown,  see  supra,  pp.  140-1,  and  for  evidence  as  to  the  true  situa- 
tion there,  infra,  pp.  188,  n.,  190-3. 

a  The  Industrial  Relations  Commission  spent  four  days  taking  testi- 
mony on  scientific  management. 


453]  SOLUTION  OF  THE  LABOR  PROBLEM 

Taylor  recognized  a  field  for  trade-unionism  under  the  pre- 
vailing type  of  factory  management.  But  now  we  are 
told  that  a  new  organization  of  industry  called  scientific 
management  does  away  with  the  importance  of  labor  organ- 
izations, and  especially  obviates  the  necessity  of  that  whole- 
sale method  of  reaching  an  agreement  as  to  wages,  hours, 
and  working  conditions,  known  as  the  collective  bargain. 
Perhaps,  therefore,  the  most  important  subject  for  inquiry 
connected  with  the  entire  topic  of  scientific  management  is 
the  question  as  to  how  the  new  system  is  likely  to  affect 
the  need  for,  and  the  character  of,  the  activity  of  labor 
unions. 

a.  Scientific  Management  Removes  from  Labor  Some  In- 
centives towards  Organisation 

Scientific  management,  especially  of  the  true  sort,  may' 
be  expected  to  weaken  the  forces  which  have  in  the  past 
tended  to  solidify  the  ranks  of  labor.  In  the  first  place, 
centralization  of  authority  in  the  hands  of  the  management 
loosens  the  bond  of  common  trade  secrets  and  craft  skill, 
which  now  makes  brothers  of  the  small  group  of  men  en- 
gaged in  any  given  occupation.  Especially  is  this  true 
where  unskilled  persons  are  put  at  work  formerly  requir- 
ing long  experience,  the  men  being  employed  simply  to 
work,  and  not  because  they  have  any  specialized  knowledge. 

While  trade  lines  are  broken  down  under  scientific  man-* 
agement,  or  there  is  a  tendency  in  this  direction,  this  does 
not  mean  that  all  the  men  are  placed  on  one  common  footing 
as  over  against  the  members  of  the  management.  On  the 
contrary,  there  is  a  greater  differentiation  than  ever  before 
between  the  various  employees.  In  fact,  instead  of  there 
being  two  large  groups  of  persons,  one  at  the  top  and  the 
other  at  the  bottom,  a  goodly  number  of  employees  are  scat- 
tered in  between.  The  management  itself  contains  high 


180  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [454 

positions  for  some  of  the  abler  workmen,  a  considerable 
proportion  of  the  men  being  employed  as  functional  fore- 
men. The  others  are  given  specialized  work  to  do  varying 
in  character  and  remuneration,  payment  being  where  pos- 
sible on  an  efficiency  basis.  Thus  there  is  a  change  in  the 
center  of  gravity  which  makes  the  management  side  much 
heavier.  Class  lines  by  occupation  are  blotted  out,  and  dis- 
tinction according  to  individual  capacity  is  substituted.  By 
promotion  —  or  the  pursuit  of  it  —  overflowing  energy  is 
drawn  off.  Indeed  the  situation  corresponds  to  that  which 
exists  in  agriculture,  where  the  relatively  large  number  of 
farmers,  as  compared  with  "hands,"  opens  a  way  for  every 
one  to  reach  the  top,  thus  forming  an  effectual  safety-valve 
against  the  formation  of  class  sentiment. 

As  long  as  scientific  management  is  installed  in  only  a 
small  portion  of  industry,  the  fact  that  the  system  en- 
deavors to  pay  the  men  working  under  it  higher  wages 
than  they  would  earn  in  competing  plants  makes  it  difficult 
to  see  what  benefits  could  be  derived  by  organization.  It 
is  the  policy  of  the  employer  to  give  voluntarily  whatever 
remuneration  may  be  necessary  in  order  to  secure  not  only 
the  time,  but  also  the  good-will  of  the  workmen.  This 
rate  is  necessarily  considerably  higher  than  the  men  could 
gain  by  force.  Therefore  the  favored  few  working  under 
it  are  apt  to  think  it  prudent  to  "  let  well  enough  alone." 

As  scientific  management  is  introduced  more  generally, 
this  last  argument  of  course  vanishes.  However,  it  is  prob- 
able that  in  the  future,  even  more  than  in  the  present,  the 
up-to-date  employer  will  find  it  a  paying  policy  to  relieve 
some  of  the  conditions  which  have  in  the  past  spurred  men 
on  to  collective  action.  Thus  the  relations  between  the  men 
and  the  management  will  be  made  more  pleasant,  and  much 
of  the  incentive  to  organize  will  be  removed. 

Above  all,   scientific  management  deals  with  the  indi- 


455J     SOLUTION  OF  THE  LABOR  PROBLEM 

vidual,  while  the  hope  of  the  labor  union  rests  upon  the  I 
consolidation  of  the  masses. 

b.  Scientific  Management,  However,  Does  Not  Adequately 
Perform  the  Functions  of  the  Collective  Bargain 

From  this  enumeration  of  the  difficulties  which  a  trade 
union  meets  when  it  tries  to  operate  under  scientific  man- 
agement, we  turn  now  to  criticize  scientific  management's 
own  effort  to  solve  the  labor  problem.  It  may  be  pointed 
out  first  that,  contrary  to  the  conviction  of  the  advocates 
of  scientific  management,  the  relation  between  management 
and  men  is  not  inherently  one  of  harmony;  nor  should 
their  relationship  be  a  pure  antagonism;  but  employers 
and  employees  have  many  interests,  some  of  which  are 
nearly  identical,  others  directly  conflicting:  it  is  necessary 
for  both  that  the  factory  continue  in  operation;  yet  an 
employee  might  easily  desire  twice  or  a  hundred  times  as 
big  a  wage  as  the  management  might  desire  to  give. 

In  the  second  place,  it  is  questionable  whether  there  is  a  1 
"  scientific  "  way  in  which  a  correct  reconciliation  of  in- 
terests can  be  effected.  Mr.  Taylor's  method  of  dividing 
the  surplus,  even  if  quite  satisfactory  to  the  workman,  is 
scientifically  exact  only  in  the  sense  that  it  gives  the  high- 
est possible  returns  to  the  management.  The  scheme  of 
wage  payment  under  scientific  management  consists  in  giv- 
ing the  usual  day  rate,  and  then  adding,  for  successful 
completion  of  a  set  task,  a  bonus  ranging  from  20  or  30 
to  100  per  cent,  according  to  the  kind  of  .work.1  Now,  the 
"  scientific  "  features  of  this  plan  are  the  determination  of 
a  proper  task,  and  of  a  proper  percentage  of  bonus.  The 
determination  of  a  proper  time  for  the  doing  of  a  given 
piece  of  work  may  indeed  be  undertaken  according  to  scien- 

1  For  an   enumeration  of   different  kinds  of   work  and  their  bonus 
percentages,  see  supra,  p.  68. 


SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [456 

tific  methods.  But  when  it  comes  to  a  decision  as  to<  the 
number  of  hours  in  the  working-day,  the  day  rate,  and  the 
percentage  of  bonus,  it  is  misleading  to  apply  the  term 
"  scientific."  The  length  of  the  working-day  should  be 
fixed  with  a  view  to  enabling  the  employee  to  get  the  most 
satisfaction  out  of  life,  as  well  as  the  greatest  possible 
work  out  of  his  limbs.  The  general  level  of  day  wages  is 
the  resultant  of  countless  bargains;  there  may  indeed  be 
no^close  bargaining  under  scientific  management,  but  the 
process  is  certainly  being  carried  on  by  someone  some- 
where. Should  scientific  management  spread  to  the  whole, 
or  even  to  a  considerable  part,  of  an  industry,  these  bar- 
gains would  have  to  be  carried  on  as  a  part  of  the  system 
itself,  and  the  setting  of  the  day  rate  would  then  be  shorn 
of  even  the  semblance  of  scientific  character.  As  regards 
bonus  determination,  Taylor  explained  the  "  science  "  to 
the  special  House  committee  as  follows: 1 

Half  a  dozen  men  were  set  at  performing  certain  tasks 
for  a  period  of  six  months  on  a  premium  of  15  per  cent. 
Another  set  of  men  were  put  on  trial  at  a  20  per  cent  in- 
crease, another  set  at  25  per  cent,  another  at  30  per  cent, 
another  at  35  per  cent,  and  so  forth.  Now,  of  the  half  a 
dozen  who  were  working  at  15  per  cent 

almost  all  of  them  came  at  the  end  of  the  six  months  and  said, 
"  Now,  see  here,  Fred,  I  have  tried  that  scheme  of  yours, 
and  I  do  not  like  feeling  all  the  day  long  that  I  am  tied  down 
to  any  old  pace,  or  to  a  new  way  of  doing  things.  I  should 
prefer  going  back  to  the  old  way."  ...  At  the  20  per  cent 
increase  almost  all  of  the  men  asked  to  return  to  their  old 
conditions  and  their  old  pay.  At  the  25  per  cent  increase 
more  than  half  of  them  stuck  to  the  new  conditions.  ...  At 
the  30  per  cent  increase  all  but  one  stuck  to  the  new  plan. 

1  Hearings,  p.  1498. 


SOLUTION  OF  THE  LABOR  PROBLEM 

At  35  Per  cent  my  rememberance  is  that  all  stuck.  ...  It  was 
in  this  way  that  we  got  at  these  percentages.  I  call  that  a 
scientific  experiment.  .  .  . 

But  is  this  science?  Is  it  not  rather  a  scientific  way  of 
bargaining?  Has  not  Mr.  Taylor  simply  asked  men  to  do 
work  of  very  large  value,  and  then  found  out  by  trial  the 
least  amount  for  which  they  will  cheerfully  perform  it? 
Would  this  rough-and-ready  solution  of  the  wages  ques- 
tion, which  has  worked  so  well  where  all  are  enjoying  a 
careless  prosperity,  meet  the  situation  when  neighboring 
concerns  begin  to  adopt  the  same  methods,  and  costs  and 
receipts  are  counted  more  closely  by  both  men  and  man- 
agement? We  would  summarize  our  discussion  thus  far 
by  expressing  the  belief  that  the  "harmony"  and  "science" 
of  Taylor's  system,  though  very  valuable,  are  really  but 
the  oil  and  skilful  handling  that  make  the  machinery  of 
wage-determination  run  smoothly.  Possibly  for  a  time  the 
amazing  productivity  of  the  system  has  brought  the  dollars 
so  fast  that  the  recipients  have  been  content  to  watch  them 
roll  in.  But  if  the  system  becomes  at  all  general,  employees' 
ideals  as  to  income  will  expand,  and  with  the  opening  of 
more  shops  in  which  the  system  has  been  installed  there 
will  be  more  competition  for  their  services  —  not  to  men- 
tion the  possibility  that  managers'  ideals  as  to  wages  may 
contract.  Then  wages  will  again  be  what  the  men  can  get 
and  what  the  employers  have  to  pay. 

In  the  final  analysis,  then,  scientific  management's 
method  of  handling  the  labor  problem  consists  in  reaching 
an  understanding  between  the  employing  corporation  on 
the  one  hand  and  the  individual  workman  on  the  other. 
Perhaps  the  management  is  very  considerate  in  its  dealings 
with  the  men;  but  whether  that  is  so  or  not,  the  point  to 
be  noted  here  is  that  there  is  no  appeal  from  the  manage- 


184  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

ment's  decision.  It  is  a  case  of  the  individual  liking  his 
treatment  by  the  management,  and  staying,  or  disliking  the 
conditions  of  his  employment,  and  quitting. 

According  to  many,  this  relationship  is  a  fit  one  for  the 
basis  of  an  industrial  system.  They  think  that  it  is  fair 
to  all,  because  any  individual  who  is  dissatisfied  can  with- 
draw. But  does  such  a  relationship  between  a  huge  cor- 
poration capitalized  at  many  millions  perhaps,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  a  poor  workman  on  the  other,  place  the  two  on 
an  equal  footing?  Suppose  that  the  workman  does  not 
want  to  work  on  Sundays:  Is  the  management  likely  to 
care  very  much  if  he  registers  a  complaint?  Suppose  that 
he  feels  that  he  is  underpaid :  Would  it  not  often  be  a  worse 
evil  to  pack  up  his  belongings  and  move  away  from  his 
old  home  to  some  distant  place  to  get  beyond  the  authority 
of  his  former  employer?  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  indi- 
viduals of  to-day  are  too  many,  and  the  corporations  of  the 
country  too  few,  to  permit  of  an  equal  contest.  Thus  noth- 
ing less  than  the  entry  of  the  Federal  Government  into*  the 
parcel-post  field  could  bring  down  the  rates  of  the  express 
companies.  In  the  case  of  the  railroads,  the  establishment 
of  tariffs  by  competition  has  of  necessity  been  abandoned, 
and  control  has  been  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission.  Of  course  few  workmen  are  as 
helpless  against  their  employers  as  shippers  against  a  rail- 
road. Nevertheless  such  a  combination  as  the  United 
States  Steel  Corporation,  when  unrestrained  by  labor  or- 
ganizations, has  a  power  over  the  lives  and  welfare  of  its 
employees  resembling  that  of  a  court  of  justice. 

The  question  amounts  to  simply  this :  Is  it  wise  to  place 
so  much  authority  in  the  hands  of  a  corporation,  even 
though  it  be  scientifically  managed  and  of  a  kindly  dispo- 
sition ?  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  board  of  directors 
represent  the  financial  interests.  Where  there  is  a  conflict 


459] 


SOLUTION  OF  THE  LABOR  PROBLEM 


between  human  and  moneyed  interests,  is  it  reasonable  to 
rely  entirely  on  the  judgment  of  those  who  represent  the 
latter?  In  minor  matters  it  might  do.  But  it  is  not  the 
spirit  of  the  American  people  to  tolerate  such  a  procedure 
when  it  comes  to  anything  that  is  worth  while.  In  modern 
times  little  can  be  done  by  individuals  working  alone,  and 
so  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  all  their  leading  interests, 
men  join  forces  in  innumerable  organizations.  Is  there 
any  reason  why  matters  of  wages,  hours  of  labor,  and 
working  conditions  should  be  an  exception  to*  the  general 
rule?  Certainly  these  things  are  as  important  as  any 
others.  It  would  seem  that  in  the  case  of  workingmen  the 
need  for  organization  would  be  greater  than  in  most  cases. 
For  the  individuals  have  neither  the  time  nor  the  aptitude 
to  bargain  cleverly  with  their  employers  or  to  keep  in  touch 
with  the  possibilities  in  competing  fields  :  they  need  leaders  ; 
they  need  organization. 

4.    THE  POSSIBILITY  OF  COORDINATING  TRADE  UNIONISM 
AND  SCIENTIFIC   MANAGEMENT 

Though  scientific  management  is  based  on  a  philosophy 
that  is  at  variance  with  that  of  organized  labor,  and  though 
its  features  appear  to  turn  the  activities  of  workmen  into 
other  channels  than  those  of  trade-unionism,  it  would  be 
quite  possible,  if  the  necessity  arose  and  both  sides  were 
willing,  to  bring  the  two  into  cooperation.  Such  a  step 
could  be  taken  much  easier  to-day  than  some  years  ago  be- 
cause of  certain  changes  in  the  methods  of  the  scientific- 
management  men  themselves.  Thus  instead  of  the  differ- 
ential rate,  which  would  be  rather  hard  to  bring  under  the 
collective  bargain,  the  management  experts  have  voluntar- 
ily reverted  to  the  day-rate  principle,  supplementing  the 
same  with  a  bonus  whose  rate  is  uniform  for  an  entire 
trade.  Both  the  day  rate  and  the  rate  of  bonus  could  very 


186  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [460 

easily  be  made  the  objects  of  the  trade  agreement.  The 
setting  of  tasks  jointly  would  be  neither  so  necessary  nor 
so  simple;  yet  this,  too,  could  probably  be  brought  under 
the  system. 

To  the  objection  that  the  men  do  not  understand  scien- 
tific management,  and  therefore  could  not  speak  with  ref- 
erence to  it  through  their  unions,  it  may  be  replied  that 
the  unions  would  not  need  to  take  the  initiative  in  putting 
the  system  into  operation.  Organized  labor  would  have  to 
go  into  the  matter  only  far  enough  to  make  terms  with 
the  management;  and  even  under  the  present  system  the 
workmen  must  be  able  to  do  as  much.  If  men  are  to  work 
under  scientific  management  at  all,  an  understanding  must 
be  reached  regarding  wages,  tasks,  etc. ;  and  why  should  it 
be  harder  to  do  this  collectively  than  individually? 

It  may  be  said,  therefore,  that  the  main  obstacle  to  the 
introduction  of  the  collective  bargain  as  a  part  of  the  scien- 
tific-management system  is  not  that  the  former  could  not 
possibly  be  applied,  but  that  the  management  experts  regard 
is  as  worthless.  Thus  Taylor  said :  1  "  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances, then,  [cooperation  between  management  and 
men]  collective  bargaining  becomes  a  matter  of  trifling  im- 
portance. But  there  is  no  reason  on  earth  why  there  should 
not  be  collective  bargaining  under  scientific  management 
just  as  under  the  older  type,  if  the  men  want  it."  General 
Crozier  thinks  that  scientific  management  should  even 
facilitate  collective  bargaining.  For  when  the  time  study 
has  been  made,  the  question  as  to  how  much  is  to  be  paid 
for  work  can  be  settled  by  agreement ;  and  the  result  of  the 
time  study  should  furnish  the  workmen  with  a  vastly  better 
ground  upon  which  to  bargain  about  wages.2 

1  Before  special  House  Committee,  Hearings,  p.  1444. 
3  Report  of  the  Chief  of  Ordnance,  1912. 


461]  SOLUTION  OF  THE  LABOR  PROBLEM  ^7 

The  collective  bargain  is  not  only  capable  of  being  ap- 
plied ;  it  has  been  actually  tried  out.  David  Van  Alstyne  is 
responsible  for  the  following  account : x 

I  made  an  agreement  with  the  molders'  and  blacksmiths' 
union,  which  was  the  ordinary  trade  agreement,  but  the  prin- 
cipal feature  of  it  was  that  the  union  committed  themselves  to 
a  maximum  output  of  which  the  company  was  to  be  the  judge, 
and  the  basis  of  it  was  the  Emerson  standard  time  system,  and 
a  bonus  paid  for  efficiency  about  two-thirds  in  addition  to  a 
straight  day's  wages.  ...  In  order  to  facilitate  matters,  we 
agreed  to  make  the  standard  times  by  means  of  a  demonstra- 
tor, and  if  there  was  no  objection  to  that,  we  put  the  time 
into  effect,  and  it  became  the  standard ;  it  was  provided  for  in 
the  agreement  that  the  shop  committee  could  object  at  any  time 
they  wanted  to,  and  if  the  shop  officials  and  the  shop  committee 
could  not  agree,  it  was  further  provided  that  it  would  be  offi- 
cially settled  by  me  and  the  head  of  the  union. 

This  last  method  never  had  to  be  resorted  to.  There  was 
no  provision  for  reference  of  disputes  to  a  third  party.  The 
above  is  the  one  example,  as  yet  given  publicity,  of  scien- 
tific'management  brought  under  the  collective  bargain. 

The  general  public,  which  desires  to  see  industrial  feudal- 
ism supplanted  by  industrial  democracy  and  nevertheless 
sees  many  good  things  in  scientific  management,  hopes  that 
the  slight  tendency  to  cooperation  which  has  been  thus  far 
manifested  will  be  strengthened,  and  that  the  better  fea- 
tures of  the  two  movements  will  eventually  become  the 
complementary  parts  of  a  single  solution  of  the  labor 
problem. 

1  Testimony    before    Industrial    Relations    Commission,    typewritten 
Hearings,  p.  1680. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  HUMAN  SIDE 

A  verdict  as  to  the  merits  of  scientific  management 
should  obviously  be  based  on  the  changes  that  the  system 
has  itself  introduced.  If  one  sees  under  scientific  manage- 
ment men  working  at  tasks  that  are  monotonous,  or  if  the 
jobs  described  seem  ugly  and  repulsive,  or  do  not  give  suffi- 
cient play  to  ambition,  those  failings  are  not  necessarily  the 
fault  of  the  reorganization.  They  may  be  sore  spots  in- 
herent in  the  prevailing  industrial  order. 

Of  the  changes  which  scientific  management  has  intro- 
duced into  industry,  some  need  no  discussion  in  a  chapter 
dealing  with  the  effect  of  the  system  upon  the  welfare  of 
employees.  They  are  recognized  by  all  as  harmless,  and, 
in  so  far  as  they  increase  the  productivity  of  industry,  they 
clearly  conduce  to  the  public  benefit.  The  main  problems 
which  here  deserve  attention  are  those  which  grow  out  of 
stop-watch  time  study  and  the  giving  of  premiums  to  in- 
dividuals who  increase  their  output.  One  charge  made 
against  these  devices  is  that  they  speed  up  the  workmen  to 
an  abnormal  pace.  Another  is  that  to  have  one's  acts  timed 
by  a  stop  watch  is  humiliating,  and  that  the  system,  in  its 
enforcement,  makes  machines  or  automatons  out  of  men.1 

1  " .  .  .  the  opponents  of  the  Taylor  system  had  virtually  concen- 
trated their  attack  upon  the  time-study  and  premium  features  under 
trial  at  the  Watertown  Arsenal,  claiming  that  those  features  operated 
against  the  health  and  well-being  of  the  employees  .  .  .  alleging  that 
these  features  are  only  devices  for  '  speeding  up '  the  workman  and 
reducing  him  ultimately  to  the  level  of  a  '  machine '  or  '  beast  of  bur- 
den'."  (General  Crozier,  in  Report  of  the  Chief  of  Ordnance,  1912.) 
188  [462 


463] 


THE  HUMAN  SIDE 


I.    THE  CHARGE  THAT  EMPLOYEES  ARE  OVERWORKED 

The  scientific-management  authorities  announce  that  by 
their  system  machine  output  is  multiplied  by  from  three  to 
five,1  that  barehanded  laborers  sometimes  perform  nearly 
four  times  as  much  work  as  formerly,2  that  among  em- 
ployees as  a  whole  the  individual  rate  of  production  is  on 
the  average  doubled.3  These  claims  place  on  the  shoulders 
of  Mr.  Taylor's  followers  the  burden  of  proving  that  they 
do  not  abnormally  speed  up  workmen. 

The  scientific-management  leaders  cheerfully  assume  this 
task.  The  effort  of  the  individual,  they  say,  is  not  increased  \ 
in  nearly  as  great  a  proportion  as  is  the  output.  Especially  J 
in  machine  shops,  much  of  the  apparent  intensification  of 
effort  is  nothing  more  than  specialization;  the  workman  is 
able  to  get  more  out  of  his  machine  because  he  'is  relieved 
of  that  portion  of  the  work  which  formerly  called  him 
away.4  Much  of  the  improvement,  too,  is  due  to  the  way 
in  which  the  machines  are  operated,  greater  efficiency  being 
the  result  of  scientific  study  applied  by  the  management. 
Instructions  as  to  the  best  manner  of  handling  everything 

1  This  is  so  in  the  case  of  the  Tabor  Manufacturing  Company  ac- 
cording to  testimony  of  Hathaway.    Evidence  Taken  by  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  in  the  Matter  of  Proposed  Advances  in  Freight 
Rates  by  Carriers.  (1910),  p.  2667. 

2  Pig-iron  handling.     See  supra,  p.  78. 

3  Estimate  of  Taylor.     See  supra,  p.  168. 

4  "  Formerly,  when  we  started  a  job,  he  had  first  to  frequently  hunt 
up  the  foreman  to  find  out  what  he  would  do  next.     Then  he  might 
have  to  hunt  up  his  materials  and  get  them  to  the  machine.     After 
that  he  had  to  decide  how  the  job  was  to  be  done,  and  look  up  his  owin 
tools  for  it.    He  had  to  grind  his  own  tools  and  all  of  the  things  that 
we  now  do  in  the  planning  department  for  him  he  had  to  do  himself 
to  a  very  large  extent,  while  his  machine  was  standing  idle.    As  it  is 
now,  the  machine  runs  along  on  other  work  while  we  are  making 
preparations  for  his  job  ahead."     (Description  of  Tabor  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  Hathaway,  Evidence  [Rate  advance  cases]  p.  2668.) 


190  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [464 

connected  with  the  work,  and  a  careful  thinning-out  of 
strength-taxing  features,  have  been  important  factors  gov- 
erning the  increase  in  production. 

Where  the  workman  does  put  forth  more  muscular 
energy,  it  is  claimed  that  this  is  simply  due  to  the  elimina- 
tion of  waiting  or  loafing;  that  is,  better  routing  has  pre- 
vented delay,  or  improved  industrial  relations  have  elimi- 
nated "  soldiering."  It  is  emphatically  denied  that  the 
workman  moves  faster,  or  at  any  one  moment  exerts  him- 
self any  harder  than  was  considered  normal  under  the  old 
regime. 

The  student  of  scientific  management  is  fortunate  in 
being  able  to  find  evidence  of  a  highly  reliable  sort  as  to 
whether  or  not  these  claims  are  just.  In  the  first  place,  the 
special  House  committee — composed  of  W.  B.  Wilson,  for- 
merly a  labor  leader  (and  since  appointed  Secretary  of 
Labor),  Wm.  C.  Redfield,  a  manufacturer  (later  appointed 
Secretary  of  Commerce)  who  has  written  somewhat  dis- 
paragingly of  scientific  management,  and  one  other  con- 
gressman— reported  after  extended  hearings  that  the  Tay- 
lor and  other  "  systems  "  had  not  "  been  in  existence  long 
enough"  for  the  committee  to  "determine  with  accuracy 
their  effect  upon  the  health  and  pay  of  employees,"  and 
that  the  committee  did  not  "deem  it  advisable  nor  expe- 
dient to  make  any  recommendations  for  legislation  upon 
the  subject "  at  that  time.  Upon  this  report  General  Cro- 
zier  comments : 1 

In  other  words,  the  committee,  properly  zealous  to  protect  the 
well-being  of  the  employees,  failed  to  find  any  ground  in  the 
representations  made  by  the  opponents  of  the  system  upon 
which  to  base  condemnation  or  serious  criticism  of  the  meth- 
ods in  effect  or  contemplated  by  this  department,  or  any  con- 
ditions which  called  for  remedial  legislation. 

1  Report  of  the  Chief  of  Ordnance,  1912. 


465]  THE  HUMAN  SIDE  lgl 

That  is,  scientific  management,  after  an  ever- widening  ap- 
plication for  thirty  years,  could  not  yet  be  charged  with 
having  produced  victims  of  overwork. 

The  irresponsible  character  of  many  of  the  complaints 
made  in  regard  to  the  effects  of  scientific  management  upon 
health  is  shown  by  General  Crozier's  reply  to  one  such 
charge  which  had  been  included  in  the  petition  of  the 
Watertown  Arsenal  unions  of  June  21,  191 3. 1 

Complaint  No.  13. — This  is  a  complaint  that  the  majority 
of  the  men  are  failing  in  health.  This  is  distinctly  not  true. 
There  is  no  evidence  of  it,  and  no  complaint  of  it.  A  number 
of  men  questioned  on  the  subject  denied  it,  no  man  being 
found  who  claimed  or  admitted  that  his  health  had  been  in- 
juriously affected;  and  no  man  has  personally  claimed  that  he 
has  been  overworked.  In  regard  to  the  possibility  of  over- 
work, it  is  at  least  extremely  improbable.  In  machine  work 
particularly,  where  as  stated  before  most  of  the  premium 
jobs  are  found,  the  machinist  usually  stands  for  a  considerable 
time  looking  on  while  the  machine  is  doing  the  work.  Such 
a  job  can  be  divided  into  machine  time  and  handling  time,  and 
the  machine  time  can  be  subdivided  into  that  in  which  the  feed 
is  by  hand  and  that  in  which  the  feed  is  by  power.  It  is  dur- 
ing the  time  that  power  feed  is  operating  that  the  machinist 
simply  stands  and  watches  the  work.  Ten  jobs,  taken  at 
random,  have  been  examined  and  the  following  have  been 
found  to  be  the  percentage  which  the  power- feed  time,  that  is,, 
the  resting  time,  is  of  the  whole  time  required  for  the  job:  job 
No.  i,  5.75  [ ?  sic]  per  cent;  job  No.  2,  68  per  cent;  job  No.  3,, 
40  per  cent;  job  No.  4,  58  per  cent;  job  No.  5,  35  per  cent; 
job  No.  6,  46  per  cent;  job  No.  7,  78  per  cent;  job  No.  8,  71 
per  cent;  job  No.  9,  80  per  cent;  and  job  No.  10,  54  per  cent. 
Of  course  during  the  power- feed  time  the  machinist  has  to 
fix  his  attention  upon  his  work ;  but  it  is  not  strained  attention, 

1  Memorandum  for  the  Secretary  of  War,  submitted  by  General  Cro- 
zier,  Sept.  6,  1913. 


192  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [466 

and  is  not  of  a  wearing  character.  These  figures  coupled  with 
the  facts  of  moderate  working  hours,  frequent  holidays,  and 
generally  good  working  conditions  show  the  practical  impossi- 
bility, in  the  general  case,  of  overworking  a  machinist. 

Perhaps  the  most  direct  way  of  arriving  at  the  facts  as 
to  overwork — though  it  unfortunately  involves  an  analysis 
of  conflicting  claims — is  to  sound  the  attitude  of  the  Water- 
town  and  Frankford  employees.  Though  it  is  alleged  that 
the  "  worst "  features  of  scientific  management  have  not 
yet  been  introduced  at  Watertown,  and  no  one  claims  that 
the  system  as  a  whole  has  been  introduced  at  the  Frank- 
ford  Arsenal,  yet  official  reports  show  a  great  decrease  in 
cost  of  operation;  and  if,  therefore,  the  type  of  scientific 
management  known  to  these  arsenals  is  unobjectionable — 
and  even  attractive — to  employees,  the  system  evidently  has 
a  great  and  proper  field. 

The  surface  facts  are,  that  in  June,  1913,  the  Watertown 
employees  petitioned  for  the  abolition  of  the  Taylor  sys- 
tem, and  in  January,  1915,  several  hundred  employees  of 
the  Frankford  Arsenal  petitioned  for  its  continuance.  In 
both  cases,  however,  the  employees'  action  was  almost  cer- 
tainly inspired  from  above  or  without,  and  the  question 
has  therefore  been  raised  as  to  the  genuineness  of  the  ver- 
dict. The  discussion  pro  and  con  in  the  House  (February 
5,  1915)  and  Senate  (February  23)  may  be  summarized  as 
indicating  (i)  very  strenuous  opposition  to  the  system  on 
the  part  of  general  labor  officers,  (2)  no  certain  evidence 
of  a  prevailing  sentiment  against  it  on  the  part  of  actual 
employees  (though  a  few  were  shown  to  be  opposed  to  it), 
and  (3)  a  considerable  measure  of  local  enthusiasm  for  it. 

Senator  Weeks,  whose  home  is  three  miles  from  the 
Watertown  Arsenal,  presented  evidence  *  to  the  effect  that 

1  Congressional  Record,  vol.  52,  pp.  4890-91. 


467]  THE  HUMAN  SIDE 

while  he  had  originally  received  a  great  many  complaints 
from  his  constituents  on  this  matter,  on  February  12,  1915, 
the  very  man  who  had  been  retained  "to  act  as  their  counsel 
in  the  matter  of  their  petition  for  the  abolishment  or  change 
of  the  Taylor  system,"  wrote  to  him  his  discovery  that  the 
workmen  were  "  opposed  to  the  amendment  to  the  Army 
appropriation  bill  providing  for  the  practical  abolishment 
of  time  study  and  premium  in  Government  shops.  .  .  ." 
The  senator  had  himself  received  letters  from  constitu- 
ents, employees  in  the  arsenal,  containing  passages  such  as 
these:  (i)  "I  have  heard  of  no  one  that  has  been  injured 
by  a  '  stop  watch/  nor  from  over-work.  The  few  agita- 
tors (shop  lawyers)  that  caused  this  bill  to  be  sent  to  Con- 
gress .  .  ."  (2)  "  There  has  been  some  opposition  made 
by  a  few  self -constituted  labor  leaders  who  take  it  on  them- 
selves to  regulate  matters  to  suit  themselves  without  any 
consideration  or  regard  for  the  rights  of  others."  (3)  "It 
seems  that  this  gigantic  move  to  abolish  the  system  is 
backed  by  some  outside  selfish  crew  .  .  ."  And  again  by 
the  same  writer:  "  There  were  349  employees  of  this  place 
who  signed  a  petition  to  abolish  the  system.  If  the  number 
who  did  not  read  that  petition,  and  consequently  did  not 
know  what  they  were  signing,  together  with  the  number 
who  signed  it  just  to  be  agreeable,  were  deducted  from  the 
349,  there  would  be  nobody  left  but  the  framers.  It  is 
proven  beyond  a  doubt  that  after  three  years'  experience 
with  the  premium  system  the  conditions  here  are  far  better 
than  any  place  of  the  kind  in  this  country."  On  the  other 
hand,  the  senator  had  received  no  complaints  for  a  year, 
except  from  outside  labor  organizations. 

There  was,  furthermore,  little  proof  to  show  that  the 
Frankford  employees  had  signed  under  pressure,  or  through 
ignorance,  and  considerable  to  show  that  their  attitude  was 
spontaneous. 


194  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

The  evidence  as  to  strain  under  scientific  management 
which  the  public  can  most  readily  avail  itself  of,  however, 
is  that  furnished  by  a  number  of  magazine  writers,  who* — 
like  Miss  Wyatt  —  have  visited  this  or  that  establishment 
operating  under  scientific  management,  thinking  that  they 
would  find  men  and  women  overworked ;  but  after  making 
personal  observations,  and  conducting  a  more  or  less  thor- 
ough inquiry  among  the  workers  themselves,  have  reported 
that  conditions  in  the  shops  investigated  contrasted  favor- 
ably with  those  in  other  plants. 

There  are,  however,  certain  developments  of  scientific 
management  which  one  hesitates  to  approve.  Mr.  Taylor 
states  that  of  the  men  who  formerly  handled  pig  iron  at 
Bethlehem,  only  one-eighth  would  have  had  endurance 
enough  to  complete  the  tasks  set  under  scientific  manage- 
ment. This  extreme  situation  was  of  course  due  to  the 
fact  that  human  beings  differ  greatly  in  their  aptitude  for 
this  kind  of  work,  and  the  task  was  designed  for  only 
those  who  were  the  fittest;  and  there  is  no  evidence  that 
any  of  these  men  were  any  the  worse  physically  for  their 
unusual  exertions.  Nevertheless,  the  specialization  of  cer- 
tain men  to  do  as  much  heavy  work  as  their  physical 
capacity  permits  is  a  thing  that  one  would  dislike  to  see 
carried  very  far.  There  must  be  a  cost  of  some  kind,  even 
for  the  fit — a  considerable  cost;  otherwise  they  would  not 
refuse  to  do  the  work  except  for  a  sixty  per  cent  addition 
to  their  pay.  The  question  arises  whether  the  cost — which 
may  be  the  dwarfing  of  part  of  the  higher  life  of  the  men — 
is  not  one  that  it  is  a  loss  to  the  community  to  allow  them 
to  bear.  Perhaps  only  good  has  resulted  in  the  specific  in- 
stances in  which  men  have  undertaken  these  jobs;  but  it  is 
a  side  of  scientific  management  which  would  not  form  a 
part  of  an  ideal  civilization,  and  which  most  people  would 
prefer  to  see  curtailed. 


469]  THE  HUMAN  SIDE 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  scientific-management 
experts  themselves  hold  much  the  same  opinion,  and  that 
the  enforcement  of  extremely  difficult  standards  is  not  as 
common  now  as  formerly.  -HT hus  that  powerful  incentive 
to  maximum  production,  the  differential  rate,  has  given 
place  to  the  milder  stimulus  of  the  Gantt  bonus  system,  and 
the  still  more  flexible  modifications  in  use  at  Watertown 
(until  1915),  and  in  the  plants  reorganized  by  Harrington 
Emerson.  There  is  now  less  emphasis  upon  the  selection  of 
none  but  unusually  able  workmen,  a  growing  precedent  in 
favor  of  retaining  practically  unchanged  the  former  staff 
of  employees,  and  a  vigorous  insistence  on  the  setting  of 
tasks  that  any  normal  person  can  accomplish. 

To  conclude  this  discussion,  scientific  management  means 
for  most  persons  an  increase  in  the  energy  which  they  put 
into  their  work.  There  is,  however,  no  evidence  that  em- 
ployees are  injured  physically,  or  that  the  effort  is  especi- 
ally disagreeable.  Still  most  men  would  not  choose  the 
new  system  for  its  own  sake.  It  is  the  association  in 
thought  between  larger  production  and  greater  pay  that 
makes  men  glad  to  turn  their  wits  away  from  side  issues, 
and  concentrate  them  on  making  their  movements  count 
towards  output.  When  transformed  by  this  thought,  work 
under  the  new  system  is  perhaps  not  as  tedious  as  work 
under  the  old;  for  it  is  not  the  effort,  but  the  spirit,  that 
makes  work  heavy  or  light. 

2.    THE   CHARGE   THAT   MEN   ARE    MADE  AUTOMATONS 

An  objection  to  time  study  in  itself  would  be  trifling. 
An  athlete  does  not  feel  humiliated  because  a  stop  watch 
records  the  seconds  and  fractions  thereof  which  it  takes 
him  to  make  a  run.  And  so  with  the  workman,  it  is  not 
the  making  of  the  studies,  but  the  purpose  for  which  they 
are  to  be  used,  that  appears  odious. 


I96  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [470 

The  first  fear  respecting  time  study,  that  it  will  be  used 
to  speed  up  abnormally  the  employee,  has  been  already 
covered.  The  other  indictment  against  it  is  that  it  is  the 
first  and  most  powerful  instrument  in  the  introduction  of 
a  new  order  of  industry,  in  which  skill,  initiative,  and  life 
itself,  are  divorced  from  the  workmen,  and  radiate  only 
from  a  central  planning  department,  the  men  becoming 
mere  machines  or  automatons.  Some  young  college  man 
measures  the  time  taken  for  each  swing  of  the  arm,  con- 
siders the  necessity  or  uselessness  of  every  turn  of  a  bolt, 
decides,  perhaps,  how  long  the  workman  should  rest  after 
an  exhausting  move.  Then  there  is  made  out  an  instruction 
card  which  tells  the  workman  exactly  what  to  do  without 
relying  on  his  own  judgment.  Eight  functional  foremen 
stand  over  him  to  guide  him  at  every  turn  so  that  he  can 
use  no  independence.  In  short,  work  is  no  longer  the  self- 
expression  of  the  worker's  individuality,  its  wholesomeness 
is  destroyed,  and  life  becomes  a  monotonous,  unhealthful 
routine. 

With  regard  to  these  charges,  we  should  first  remind  the 
reader  that,  as  we  have  pointed  out  elsewhere,  the  extent 
to  which  planning  is  carried  under  scientific  management  is 
not  nearly  so  great  as  the  public  sometimes  imagines.  In 
the  second  place,  there  was  considerable  monotony  and  sub- 
ordination of  one  individual  to  another  before  Mr.  Taylor 
began  his  work.  Nevertheless,  if  the  introduction  of  scien- 
tific management  is  even  a  small  step  in  the  direction  of 
increasing  the  drudgery  of  work,  it  is  a  matter  in  which 
the  public  should  feel  concerned.  What  are  the  facts  ? 

In  the  first  place,  a  word  should  be  said  as  to  the  likeli- 
hood that  control  over  a  man's  movements  by  a  higher 
authority  will  lead  to  nervous  and  physical  discomfort. 
One  would  almost  imagine,  judging  by  some  of  the  attacks 
made  on  scientific  management,  that  men  are  held  in  a  vise 


471  ]  THE  HUMAN  SIDE  IOy;r 

and  that  a  boss  standing  by  pulls  the  strings  to  let  the 
workman  know  when  to  move  the  one  arm  and  when  the 
other.  A  little  reflection,  however,  is  enough  to  convince 
any  one  that  men  who  are  paid  high  wages  for  rapid,  spir- 
ited work  will  not  be  interfered  with  in  any  way  that  is  dis- 
agreeable to  them.  To  carry  motion  study  to  such  a  point 
would  not  only  involve  prohibitive  expense,  but  would 
defeat  its  own  end.  One  could  imagine  a  greedy  employer 
giving  a  man  too  difficult  a  task ;  but  it  would  be  nonsense 
to  imagine  him  fettering  his  hands  or  grating  on  his  nerves. 

While  it  would  be  unreasonable  to  think  of  scientific 
management  as  carrying  its  supervision  of  work  down  to 
an  automaton  level,  where  movements  would  be  directed  to 
the  point  of  physical  discomfort,  or  men  would  take  on  a 
slave-like  lack  of  spontaneity,  it  is  not  so  self-evident  that 
the  system  will  leave  unimpaired  the  higher  intellectual  life. 
Actual  monotony,  indeed,  is  probably  not  as  great  under 
scientific  management  as  under  other  systems ;  and  the  evi-  \ 
dence  bears  out  the  assertions  of  Taylor  and  others  that/ 
the  "  mental  revolution  "  carries  with  it  a  sympathy  and 
fellowship  between  men  and  management,  which  makes/ 
conditions  in  a  shop  unusually  attractive.  Nevertheless, ' 
men  of  enterprise,  men  who  would  not  only  chafe  under 
restraint  but  who  are  also  ambitious  to  exert  an  influence 
in  the  outer  world,  would  probably  hesitate  to  enter  the 
lower  ranks  of  a  system  where  they  would  be  given  little 
liberty  to  try  things  their  own  way;  they  would  shun  a  job 
which  meant  constant  work  at  a  narrow  range  of  activi- 
ties and  no  more  than  a  very  vague  comprehension  of  the 
industry  as  a  whole.  The  thirty  per  cent  bonus  would  be 
purchased  at  too  dear  a  price. 

We  are  inclined  to  think,  however,  that  scientific  man- 
agement is  the  more  practical,  and,  for  the  present  at  least, 
the  more  commendable,  in  that  it  has  adapted  itself  to  a 


I98  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [472 

state  of  civilization  in  which  men  as  a  rule  are  obviously 
not  of  this  ambitious,  intellectual  type.  Mr.  Taylor,  in  his 
unflinching  and  rather  uncanny  way,  classified  men  into 
groups  as  distinct  from  one  another  as  are  the  different 
breeds  of  horses :  Thus,  corresponding  to  the  dray  horse — 
or,  better  yet,  the  ox — there  is  the  man  with  the  muscle 
suitable  for  handling  pig  iron  and  the  mentality  incapable 
of  understanding  percentage ;  corresponding  to  the  grocery- 
wagon  horse  there  is  another  type  of  man  suitable  for  a 
somewhat  higher  grade  of  work ;  the  trotter  has  his  human 
counterpart;  and  so  on  up  to  the  top.  This  distinction, 
while  unpleasant,  is  not  altogether  fanciful :  there  are  dif- 
ferences between  men;  and  it  is  probable  that  the  majority 
of  workmen  would  prefer  to  avoid  the  trouble  of  system- 
atically planning  complicated  work.  They  need  guidance. 
They  are  perhaps  better  off  for  remaining  at  one  employ- 
ment and  confining  themselves  to  a  limited  range  of  activ- 
ities. 

Yet  it  is  probable  that  many  of  these  men,  if  they  had 
enjoyed  better  opportunities  earlier  in  life,  would  not  now 
be  of  the  "  type  of  the  ox."  While  scientific  management 
does  well  to  adjust  itself  temporarily  to  human  nature  as 
it  finds  it,  possibly  with  the  more  general  extension  of  edu- 
cational advantages  much  of  this  analysis  of  men  into  types 
will  eventually  break  down;  and  a  socially  meritorious 
scientific  management  must  take  this  possibility  into  ac- 
count; it  must  soften,  not  perpetuate  nor  intensify,  class 
distinctions.  So  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  in  the  future,  rules  in 
regard  to  work  will  be  imposed  only  where  there  are  clear 
advantages  to  be  gained ;  and  finally,  that  as  rapidly  as  pos- 
sible men  may  be  led  to  follow  good  methods  on  their  own 
responsibility,  because  they  realize  that  they  are  the  best, 
and  not  because  they  are  forced  to  do  so. 


473]  THE  HUMAN  SIDE 

3.    PROMOTION SKILL WAGES 

It  is  the  policy  of  shops  operating  under  scientific  man- 
agement to  fill  the  higher  positions  by  promoting  able  men 
from  within  the  ranks.  Inasmuch  as  the  proportion  of 
good  positions  under  this  system  is  much  greater  than  in 
the  case  of  the  ordinary  forms  of  management — because 
of  the  functional  foremen  and  planning  department — the 
chances  for  promotion  are  decidedly  better.  Furthermore, 
such  promotion  as  there  is  should  be  on  a  more  just  basis 
under  scientific  management  than  elsewhere,  because  its 
more  adequate  records  covering  the  work  of  each  indi- 
vidual enable  the  head  men  to  know  just  who  are  the  most 
capable  workers.  The  capable  but  rather  unobtrusive  man 
in  fact  ranks  higher  under  scientific  management  than  he 
would  elsewhere;  he  is  worth  more;  for  the  things  that  he 
needs  for  his  work  are  supplied  as  a  matter  of  course;  and 
it  is  not  necessary,  as  in  some  shops,  to  use  personal  pres- 
sure to  get  others  to  treat  one  fairly:  hence  true  efficiency 
— and  not  audacity — counts  towards  output^ 

One  of  the  objects  of  having  functional  foremen  —  as 
well  as  certain  other  of  the  features  of  scientific  manage- 
ment— is  to  enable  inferior  men  to  do  what  was  formerly 
regarded  as  skilled  work.  Thus  we  are  told  that  at  Beth- 
lehem ninety-five  per  cent  of  the  rough  machine  work  was 
done  by  low-priced  men  under  expert  guidance.1  For  the 
inferior  men  who  are  put  at  such  work  this  means  higher 
wages  and  greater  skill  than  they  would  otherwise  attain. 
For  the  class  of  persons  who  formerly  performed  the  jobs 
it  means  that  that  much  of  their  field  has  been  lost. 

The  elimination  of  the  need  for  skill  is  one  of  those 
changes  which  benefits  the  race  at  large,  but  is  apt  to  work 

1  Hearings  before  Special  Committee  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives to  Investigate  the  Taylor  and  Other  Systems  of  Shop  Manage- 
ment, p.  1488. 


200  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [474 

hardship  upon  individuals.  For  of  the  on-coming  genera- 
tion, those  who  seek  special  training  can  pick  out  some 
other  field,  while  those  who  can  not  or  do  not  prepare 
themselves  for  any  definite  work  will  be  very  glad  for  the 
increase  in  the  demand  for  unskilled  men.  There  is  thus 
little  loss,  and  the  public  gains  because  of  the  reduced 
price  of  the  finished  product.  The  thought  of  the  future 
gain  is,  however,  a  poor  consolation  for  those  who  already 
have  their  training  in  the  abandoned  line.  These  persons 
are  apt  to  be  thrown  out  of  employment  and  to  suffer 
greatly,  and  for  no  fault  of  their  own. 

So  much  for  the  antedating  of  skill  in  the  abstract.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  up  to  the  present  time  the  share  that 
scientific  management  has  had  in  this  process  has  been 
accompanied  by  little  if  any  inconvenience  to  workmen. 
One  reason  for  this  is  the  fact  that  the  new  system  requires 
a  long  time  for  its  introduction.  Changes  in  the  personnel 
of  most  shops  naturally  occur  comparatively  rapidly,  so 
that  if  the  scientific-management  men  exercise  a  little  care, 
they  are  able  to  contract  the  field  for  skill  without  a  dis- 
charge of  any  former  employees.  Moreover,  the  better 
workmen  must  be  retained  to  do  the  work  which  still  re- 
quires special  knowledge,  and  to  serve  as  functional  fore- 
men. We  may  conclude  that  while  scientific  management 
is  ever  seeking  to  get  along  with  as  little  skill  as  possible, 
at  the  same  time  it  takes  skill  to  accomplish  this  very  end ; 
so  that  it  is  rather  hard  to  say  whether  in  the  long  run 
there  will  be  required  a  widened  or  lessened  distribution 
of  it.  We  may  be  sure  of  this  much,  however:  that  there 
is  a  shifting  of  the  points  at  which  skill  is  applied;  and 
that  of  the  higher  grades  much  more  is  required.  In  all 
probability,  the  changes  will  continue  to  go  on  without 
much  unusual  suffering  to  anyone. 


475]  THE  HUMAN  SIDE  2OI 

As  to  wages,  Taylor  claimed  that  the  men  working  under 
scientific  management  receive  from  20  to  100  per  cent  more 
than  men  of  equal  caliber  working  under  the  ordinary  types 
of  management.1  Except  for  men  doing  very  strenuous 
manual  work,  however,  we  may  remark  that  the  great  mass 
of  employees  seem  to  be  at  the  lower  end  of  this  range: 
25  per  cent  would,  perhaps,  be  a  typical  average  for  the 
increase  in  machine  shops.2  The  rise  in  wages,  even  at  the 
latter  more  moderate  estimate,  is  seen  to  be  a  considerable 
one. 

This  point  being  settled,  there  next  arises  the  more  im- 
portant question :  Will  the  high  wages  of  scientific  man- 
agement prove  permanent,  or  are  those  critics  of  scientific 
management  right  who  say  that  after  a  little  these  rates 
will  be  cut,  and  eventually  workmen  will  receive,  in  spite 
of  their  increased  speed,  wages  no  greater  than  in  the  first 
place  ? 

It  is  not  probable  that  the  near  future  will  witness  a 
radical  reduction  in  the  wages  paid  under  scientific  man- 
agement; for  certain  companies  which  have  tried  such  a 
policy  have  found  to  their  sorrow  that  the  men  would  not 
turn  out  the  enlarged  product  unless  their  rewards  were 
kept  at  about  the  above  figures.  The  whole  situation  may 
be  quite  different,  however,  if  scientific  management  is  ever 
introduced  generally  throughout  the  country.  The  work- 
men would  then  have  no  alternative  system  which  they 
could  fall  back  upon ;  and  they  might  be  compelled  to  work 
in  the  new  way  if  they  were  to  obtain  satisfactory  employ- 
ment of  any  kind,  and  to  do  so  regardless  of  whether  wages 
had  been  substantially  increased  or  not.  On  the  other 

1  Testimony  before  the  Industrial  Relations  Commission,  April,  1914. 

2  See  statistics  for  the  Tabor  Manufacturing  Company,  supra,  p.  131 ; 
for  the  Link-Belt  Company,  p.  135 ;  and  for  the  Watertown  Arsenal,  p. 
138. 


202  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [476 

hand,  it  is  equally  possible  that  if  the  number  of  plants 
using  scientific  management  grows  until  there  is  a  scarcity 
of  workmen  able  to  turn  out  these  large  outputs,  their 
wages  may  be  forced  up  still  higher. 

At  any  rate,  the  present  method  of  fixing  wages  under 
scientific  management  is  a  transitional  one,  and  the  forces 
lying  behind  the  wage-determination  of  tKe  future  will 
probably  be  more  complex.  There  is  no  reason  why  the 
workman  should  fear  that  scientific  management  will  bring 
anything  but  favorable  changes  in  the  level  of  wages.  Yet 
his  greatest  gain  will  probably  come,  not  in  the  form  of 
higher  pay,  but  in  that  of  cheaper  commodities. 

4.    THE   HUMANIZING   OF    MANAGEMENT 

The  discussion  should  by  this  time  have  alleviated,  or 
cleared  away  altogether,  most  of  the  fears  which  have  been 
entertained  regarding  the  effect  of  scientific  management 
upon  the  welfare  of  employees.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the 
movement  is  in  the  very  opposite  direction :  as  far  as  there 
is  anything  distinctive  about  scientific  management,  it 
represents  a  shifting  of  thought  from  machines  to  men. 
Whether  rightly  or  wrongly,  the  claim  of  the  system  for 
special  merit  is  based  upon  its  seeing  more  truly  the  deeper 
motives  that  actuate  men;  upon  its  adaptation  of  factory 
conditions  to  conform  more  perfectly  to  man's  comfort, 
productive  efficiency,  and  satisfaction;  upon  its  coming 
down  more  intimately  to  the  temper  and  capacity  of  the 
individual  worker.  Scientific  management  is  thus,  first  of 
all,  a  study  of  man,  of  his  nature,  of  his  ideals.  It  is  based 
upon  the  principle  that  cheerful  workmen  are  more  profit- 
able than  sullen  ones,  that  to  fit  the  work  to  the  man  is 
better  than  to  try  to  fit  the  man  to  the  work,  that  the  indi- 
vidual is  a  more  satisfactory  unit  of  study  and  adminis- 
tration than  the  mass. 


477]  THE  HUMAN  SIDE  203 

As  long  as  scientific  management  retains  these  ideals  as 
the  essence  of  its  program — and  the  lives  of  the  leaders 
testify  that  they  have  practiced  them  up  to  date — it  is  hard 
to  see  how  the  system  could  be  anything  else  than  agree- 
able and  beneficial  to  the  workmen.  If  step  number  one 
is  the  humanizing  of  industry,  step  number  two  a  response 
on  the  part  tff  the  men  to  this  change,  and  step  number 
three  the  realization  of  profit  by  the  management,  then  if 
the  system  is  to  work  at  all,  it  is  only  because  in  the  first 
place  the  shop  is  made  to  appear  to  the  men  a  better  place 
to  live  and  work. 

But  fifty  year's  from  now,  when  Taylor,  Gantt,  Barth, 
Cooke,  Dodge,  and  the  others  will  have  been  followed  by 
men  who  know  not  the  kindly  spirit  of  these  pioneers,  when 
shop  management  is  once  again  regarded  only  as  a  money- 
making  proposition,  and  when  the  new  men  look  about 
them  to  see  whether  Taylor  was  right  in  saying  that  money- 
making  and  harmony  and  human  welfare  are  not  incon- 
gruous, what  then  will  be  the  situation?  An  enlightened 
self-interest,  reinforced  by  the  demands  of  a  growing  public 
sentiment,  will  probably  dictate  that  as  working  machines, 
men  be  kept  in  good  condition,  that  hours  and  tasks  be 
reasonable,  that  the  work  be  varied  and  pleasant.  But 
when  it  comes  to  a  fair  division  of  the  profits  between 
employer  and  men,  when  it  comes  to  the  things  that  will 
make  for  the  larger  intellectual  and  social  life  of  the  work- 
ingman,  it  may  be  doubted  whether  scientific  management 
will  in  itself  offer  anything  better  than  other  systems.  Its 
contribution  will  be  an  increase  in  productivity  which  will 
make  better  conditions  possible.  But  the  hope  of  bringing 
these  better  conditions  into  actual  existence  should  in  the 
future,  as  in  the  past,  be  founded  upon  something  more 
substantial  and  equitable  than  the  altruism  of  the  factory 
manager.  While  scientific  management  is  thus  hardly  a 


204  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [478 

complete  solution  of  the  problem  of  human  welfare  in  fac- 
tories, the  influence  of  its  leaders  should  nevertheless  prove 
to  be  an  exceedingly  powerful  force  in  the  right  direction.1 

1  After  explaining  that  he  had  been  putting  into  scientific  manage- 
ment every  cent  of  surplus  income  and  a  little  more  for  a  good  many 
years,  including  payment  of  "the  salary  of  quite  a  number  of  [men] 
for  several  years  while  they  [were]  learning  the  introduction  of  scien- 
tific management " — all  this  without  hope  of  profit — Mr.  Taylor  then  de- 
clared himself  as  follows : 

"  And  I  want  to  make  it  perfectly  clear,  because  I  do  not  think  it  is 
clear,  that  my  interest,  and  I  think  the  interest  of  every  man  who  is  in 
any  way  engaged  in  scientific  management,  in  the  introduction  of  the 
principles  of  scientific  management  must  be  first  the  welfare  of  the 
working  men.  That  must  be  the  object.  It  is  inconceivable  that  a  man 
should  devote  his  time  and  his  life  to  this  sort  of  thing  for  the  sake 
of  making  more  money  for  a  whole  lot  of  manufacturers."  Testimony 
before  Industrial  Relations  Commission,  April,  1914. 

Scientific  management's  vision  of  leadership  is  rich  in  promise  for 
the  future.  The  unexplored  possibilities  of  this  field  are  nowhere  indi- 
cated more  clearly  and  profoundly  than  in  Professor  Edward  D.  Jones' 
resourceful  paper  on  "  The  Relation  of  Education  to  Industrial  Effi- 
ciency," read  before  the  American  Economic  Association  in  December, 
1914,  and  published  in  the  March,  1915,  supplement  to  The  American 
Economic  Review. 


CHAPTER  IX 
OTHER  CRITICISMS  AND  CONCLUSIONS 

I.    SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  BUT  ONE  FACTOR  IN 
SOCIAL    LIFE 

IF  our  criticism  has  on  the  whole  been  favorable  to 
scientific  management,  it  is  because  we  believe  that  there 
is  a  large  amount  of  good  in  the  system.  To  maintain 
that  it  is  perfect  would  be  to  overlook  the  fact  that  it  is 
hardly  yet  beyond  its  formative  period.  Since  Mr.  Taylor 
first  began  its  application,  about  1882,  there  have  been 
numerous  and  important  changes.  There  is  no  reason 
why  there  should  not  be  other  alterations  in  the  future. 

While  scientific  management  seems  to  us  a  force  for 
good,  it  should  not  be  regarded  as  a  panacea  capable  of 
curing  all  industrial  and  social  ills.  On  the  contrary,  it 
should  be  supplemented  by*  social  agencies  whose  field  of 
operation  is  wider  than  a  single  shop  or  a  single  manage- 
ment. Especially  along  the  lines  of  industrial  and  cul- 
tural education,  of  regulation  by  the  state  of  the  condi- 
tions of  employment,  and  of  other  movements  designed 
to  round  out  the  lives  of  workmen,  to  better  their  sur- 
roundings at  work,  at  home,  and  during  recreation,  is 
there  a  possibility  of  solving  directly  many  of  the  problems 
that  scientific  management  approaches  only  through  the 
roundabout  road  of  increasing  output.  We  must  not 
forget  that  the  end  of  production  is  consumption.  We 
must  not  think  so  much  about  running  our  factories  at 
479]  205 


2o6  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

full  speed  that  we  neglect  the  simpler  and  more  direct 
methods  of  increasing  human  satisfaction  and  welfare. 
It  would  be  demanding  too  much  of  scientific  management 
to  expect  that  it  make  the  most  of  development  along 
all  of  these  broader  lines.  Through  making  industry 
more  productive  the  shop  manager  may  furnish  the  ma- 
terials for,  but  others  may  be  better  qualified  to  superin- 
tend the  reconstruction  of,  our  social  life. 

Furthermore,  if  other  agencies  be  permitted  to  become 
strong,  so  that  scientific  management  is  held  in  check,  it 
will  not  be  necessary  for  the  public  to  be  greatly  con- 
cerned as  to  exactly  how  far  scientific  management  should 
be  permitted  to  extend  its  operations.  The  future  may 
be  trusted  to  solve  that  problem.  Grant  that  it  is  a  loss 
to  have  men  work  harder ;  but  that,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  is  a  gain  to  swell  the  volume  of  output.  If  there  are 
well-organized  movements  backing  each  of  the  opposing 
interests,  we  may  safely  leave  to  their  interaction  the 
determination  of  precisely  how  much  of  one  advantage 
may  be  surrendered  for  the  sake  of  the  other.  Through- 
out life,  men  are  confronted  by  situations  in  which  they 
realize  that  they  cannot  have  everything  that  is  attractive, 
but  must  give  up  one  profit  to  attain  another.  Is  it  de- 
sirable, for  instance,  to  live  in  a  city?  The  city  man  longs 
sometimes  for  the  freedom  of  the  wilds  or  for  the  quiet  and 
beauty  of  the  country.  But  that,  on  the  whole,  the  oppor- 
tunities of  urban  life  more  than  make  up  for  the  unques- 
tioned sacrifices  which  are  involved  is  attested  by  the  fact 
that  people  continue  to  live  in  cities.  So  with  scientific 
management.  On  the  one  hand  it  demands  effort,  on  the 
/  other  offers  reward.  The  extent  to  which  it  will  be  car- 
ried will  be  the  result  of  an  equilibrium  of  these  two,  as 
well  as  of  many  other  forces. 


481]          OTHER  CRITICISMS  AND  CONCLUSIONS  207 

2.    THE   LARGER  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  SCIENTIFIC 
MANAGEMENT 

Scientific  management's  first  great  significance  is  in 
connection  with  the  problem  presented  by  the  size  and 
complexity  of  modern  industrial  organization.  There 
would  not  have  been  much  of  a  field  for  scientific  man- 
agement in  an  age  when  all  men  worked  for  themselves 
or  were  associated  in  groups  of  ten  or  twenty.  But  the 
system  is  an  outgrowth  of  the  concentration  under  one 
ownership  and  control  of  operations  carried  on  over  a 
large  stretch  of  territory  and  participated  in  by  thousands 
of  employees.  Scientific  management  may  do  for  work\ 
what  money  has  done  for  exchange ;  as  the  one  fixes  the 
values  of  commodities,  so  the  other  establishes  labor  val- 
ues, values  that  are  definite  and  that  can  be  traded  in 
throughout  world  industry.  The  Eastern  capitalist  can 
know  that  he  is  getting  his  money's  worth  when  he  pays 
an  Arizona  section  hand  to  drive  a  spike  ;  the  foreman  of 
an  excavating  gang  can  quote  the  market  value  of  the 
dumping  of  a  scoop;  the  heads  of  great  corporations 
may  be  sure  of  a  proper  return  from  their  smallest  and 
remotest  working  unit.  In  an  age  when  industrial  re- 
lations are  becoming  ever  more  complex,  the  coordinat- 
ing value  of  a  system  such  as  this  is  full  of  high  promise. 
It  strikes  at  the  root  inefficiency  of  big  business.  It 
opens  up  new  worlds  for  industrial  integration. 

Scientific  management  is  again  significant  because  it  is 
teaching  the  world  a  new  way  of  gathering  wealth.  In 
the  past  the  way  to  become  rich  has  too  often  been  that 
of  exploiting  one's  fellows.  But  under  scientific  manage- 
ment— perhaps  more  consciously  than  in  the  case  of  any 
other  of  the  rising  modern  movements — one  notes  a 
shifting  of  emphasis  towards  efforts  to  increase  total 
wealth.  Scientific  management's  method  of  increasing 


208  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [4g2 

total  output  is  in  part,  to  so  adjust  the  inner  workings 
of  the  factory,  that  much  of  the  old  activity  is  rendered 
unnecessary,  while  the  remaining  tasks  are  rationalized 
and  coordinated  so  that  output  is  disburdened  of  much  of 
its  human  labor. 

It  is  perhaps  true  that  the  scientific-management  men 
overemphasize  the  capacity  of  this  phase  of  their  system 
to  rid  the  age  of  its  pressing  social  problems.  It  is  not 
so  much  the  lack  of  wealth  as  the  pitiable  unevenness  in 
distribution  that  is  disturbing  modern  tranquillity.  The 
invention  of  the  past  has  already  given  the  present,  re- 
sources adequate  enough  to  enable  all  men  to  live  in  a 
certain  degree  of  comfort  and  with  considerable  satisfac- 
tion, provided  the  social  income  were  more  equally 
divided,  and  the  one  half  of  the  people  were  not  rendered 
discontented  by  observing  the  more  fortunate  lot  of  their 
betters.  The  people  of  to-day  lay  a  false  stress  upon  the 
possession  of  material  wealth.  If  individuals  could  only 
cease  vying  with  each  other  in  the  amount  of  expense 
which  they  display  in  their  living,  is  it  not  possible' that 
they  could  easily  attain  to  a  greater  happiness  than'would 
follow  an  augmentation,  at  great  effort,  of  the  stock  of 
material  commodities? 

Yet,  generally  speaking,  material  welfare  is  the  founda- 
tion of  culture.  Wholesome  food,  comfortable  lodging, 
freedom  from  long  or  exhausting  labor,  and  opportunities 
for  travel  and  education,  are  the  requisites  of  art,  litera- 
ture, science,  and  the  beautiful  in  life  and  thought.  In 
seeking  to  produce  material  things  at  less  cost,  scientific 
management  is  sounding  the  keynote  of  a  new  campaign, 
in  which  all  should  join,  and  in  the  success  of  which  lies 
great  hope.  Men  have  hitherto  thought  that  there  was 
certain  work  to  be  done.  Scientific  management  may  in 
years  to  come  show  that  this  is  a  myth — that  a  new  spirit 


483]          OTHER  CRITICISMS  AND  CONCLUSIONS  209 

of  study  and  enterprise  may  reduce  human  toil  to  an 
inconsiderable  minimum, — perhaps  eliminate  the  toil- 
someness  altogether. 

Scientific  management  may  also  be  said  to  present  an 
object  lesson  in  the  gains  which  follow  coordinated  effort. 
If  it  is  possible  in  a  shop  which  has  already  been  under 
one  management  to  effect  such  great  savings  through 
giving  more  attention  to  routing,  to  planning,  to  in- 
struction of  workmen,  and  so  forth,  how  much  more 
could  be  achieved  if  the  various  branches  of  industry  now 
competing  were  managed  scientifically  in  their  relations 
one  to  another.  If  not  an  argument  for  socialism,  sci- 
entific management  at  least  suggests  the  promising  field 
open  to  those  who  would  devote  their  lives  to  a  study 
of  how  industrial  life  as  a  whole  may  be  operated  more 
economically  and  satisfactorily. 

Scientific  management  can  not,  however,  accomplish 
all  or  a  part  of  these  things  without  introducing  problems 
of  its  own.  The  system  means  concentration  of  author- 
ity and  subordination  of  the  individual.  It  means  that  the 
value  of  the  clever  man  will  be  greatly  increased;  that 
there  will  be  more  very  high-salaried  men ;  and  that  all  the 
way  down  to  the  bottom,  there  will  be  a  new  differenti- 
ation as  to  pay.  This  situation  is  rather  disturbing  in  a 
country  of  democratic  ideals.  Yet,  inasmuch  as  the 
system  calls  for  a  closer  cooperation  and  a  more  complete 
understanding  between  persons  occupying  different 
levels,  the  actual  evils  will  probably  not  be  great,  and 
may  be  atoned  for  by  a  considerable  good.  Such  regret- 
able  consequences  as  follow  must  be  excused  as  almost 
inevitable  when  a  world  in  which  the  capacities  of  men 
are  so  different  is  stirred  to  really  vigorous  action. 


2io  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [484 

3.  THE  ORIGINALITY  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT 

There  is  a  tendency  in  some  quarters  to  regard  scien- 
tific management  as  not  different  in  kind  from  common 
sense  and  skill  applied  to  industrial  undertakings.  Thus 
to  quote  one  opinion : 

There  have  been  no  new  discoveries  in  scientific  management 
of  industrial  institutions.  Common-sense  men  have  used 
common-sense  methods  always.  The  term  "  scientific  man- 
agement "  is  a  catch-word  which  assumes  that  industrial 
institutions  have  not  been  scientifically  managed — which  is 
not  the  case.  My  experience  and  the  experience  of  my  friends 
has  been  that  there  has  been  no  new  element  injected  into  the 
art  of  management. 

Now,  of  the  mass  of  efficiency  devices  associated  with 
the  Taylor  system,  a  large  proportion  are,  to  be  sure, 
traceable  to  this  or  that  extraneous  source;  Mr.  Taylor, 
himself,  was  inclined  to  minimize  the  originality  of  his  own 
system.  But  the  observer  who  has  noted  how  this  man 
has  inspired  followers,  and  who  has  studied  the  testimony 
of  manufacturers  who  have  introduced  his  system,  must 
be  convinced  that,  in  addition  to  the  minor  devices, 
there  are  certain  great  unifying  principles  which  are  as 
original  with  Taylor  as  is  an  invention  or  a  masterpiece 
of  literature  original  with  its  author.  These  principles 
have  been  explained  in  one  place  and  another  in  the 
foregoing  chapters.  The  foremost  are  the  setting  of  a 
"  task  "  for  each  employee,  and  the  determination  of  what 
this  task  shall  be  by  making  a  very  careful  analysis  of 
just  what  enters  into  the  work — preferably  using  the 
stop  watch  to  discover  the  "  unit  times "  required  for 
the  various  work  elements.  This  alone  is  enough  to 
form  the  basis  for  a  system — especially  when  it  is  coupled 
with  the  idea  of  carrying  the  study  down  to  the  humblest 


485]          OTHER  CRITICISMS  AND  CONCLUSIONS  2II 

worker,  to  his  simplest  jobs,  and  to  their  minutest 
details.  The  "  science  "  of  the  Taylor  system  may  indeed 
be  nothing  more  than  ordinary  intelligence  and  common 
sense ;  but  it  is  because  the  intelligence  is  applied  to 
these  new  and  distinctive  ends  that  scientific  manage- 
ment may  be  pronounced  original.1 

Of  course  Mr.  Taylor  was  not  independent  of  his  age. 
The  opportunity  for  his  work  was  presented  by  the  con- 
ditions which  followed  the  industrial  revolution,  and, 
more  recently,  by  the  rise  of  large-scale  industry  and 
specialized  manufacture  in  this  country,  coupled  with  the 
growing  differentiation  into  social  classes  which  by  the 
eighties  was  already  alienating  the  interests  of  work- 
men from  the  success  of  their  employers. 

In  several  respects,  too,  scientific  management  may  be 
characterized  as  having  simply  fitted  itself  into  the  pre- 
vailing currents  of  industrial  evolution.  Scientific  manage- 
ment emphasizes  the  importance  of  steady,  consistent 
work]  but  in  this,  the  system  is  surely  not  a  pioneer. 
We  are  told  that  among  primitive  peoples,  sustained 
labor  was  entirely  unknown ;  but  that  conquest  and 
slavery  first  imposed  upon  a  portion  of  the  population 
the  necessity  of  application.2  The  rigor  of  work  under 

1  For  a  more  detailed  study  of  the  originality  of  scientific  management, 
£/.  supra,  Chapter  II,  pp.  30-52,  where  the  earlier  systems  are  described; 
pp.  54-63,  where  Taylor's  central  philosophy  is  given  at  length;  and 
pp.  64-5,  where,  in  conclusion,  Taylor's  system  is  contrasted  with  those 
antecedent  devices  which  come  the  nearest  to  being  its  prototype. 
Upon  these  passages,  the  conclusions  in  this  chapter  are  in  part  based. 

* ' '  And  it  may  be  safely  inferred  from  all  that  is  known  of  actual  sav- 
ages and  primitive  peoples  that  prior  to  the  period  of  social  integration, 
and  at  the  beginning  of  the  period  of  conquest,  mankind,  both  of  the 
conquered  and  conquering  races,  were  utterly  incapable  of  sustained 
labor  and  had  no  conception  of  it."  Lester  F.  Ward,  Pure  Sociology, 
2  ed.,  p.  277. 


212  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [486 

the  earlier  industrial  systems  was  slight ;  but  its  inten- 
sity has  been  constantly  increased  as  society  has  become 
organized  on  lines  more  and  more  modern ;  in  the  last 
century  the  tendency  has  been  to  make  work  more  reg- 
ular and  more  solid.  The  rapid  pace  set  by  American 
workmen  and  their  almost  perfect  concentration  upon 
the  work  at  hand  has  certainly  paved  the  way  for  the  ad- 
vance of  scientific  management. 

If  there  is  any  originality  in  scientific  management's 
ideal  as  to  work,  it  is  in  its  emphasis  on  efficiency  rather 
than  strain.  Scientific  management  is  the  culmination 
of  a  progress  towards  the  utilization  of  scientific,  rather 
than  drive  methods.  The  human  machine,  which  was 
before  blindly  urged  on  until  it  broke,  is  now  analyzed, 
and  given  work  in  accordance  with  its  strength  and 
special  characteristics. 

Again,  when  scientific  management  proposes  to  recon- 
struct the  way  in  which  work  is  done,  it  is  but  following 
in  the  footsteps  of  such  movements  as  the  introduction 
of  labor-saving  machinery,  and  the  establishment  of 
chemical  and  physical  laboratories.  It  has  been  possible 
to  arouse  interest  in  scientific  management  only  because 
it  has  come  to  life  in  an  age  when  men  are  filled  with  the 
idea  that  there  is  no  limit  to  the  wonderful  things  which 
they  may  achieve,  if  they  only  go  about  the  task  in  the 
proper  way.  Mr.  Taylor  would  have  met  with  but  slight 
success  in  a  country  where  everyone  believed  in  follow- 
ing the  precedents  handed  down  by  his  great-grandpar- 
ents. Scientific  management  is  the  product  of  an  age  of 
daring  and  innovation  in  industrial  processes. 

Scientific  management  was  foreshadowed,  too,  by  the 
emergence  of  the  specialist  in  matters  of  management. 
It  would  be  possible  to  apply  it  only  in  a  period  when 
factories  were  being  standardized  to  conform  to  the  best 


487]          OTHER  CRITICISMS  AND  CONCLUSIONS  213 

existing  practice.  Scientific  management  has  been 
brought  in  by  the  age  of  "  system." 

It  follows  that,  while  Mr.  Taylor's  system  is  as  a  whole 
original  and  unique,  it  borders  at  many  points  on  com- 
peting ideas  suggested  by  similar  stimuli.  Especially  is 
this  noticeable  as  time  goes  on  and  the  world  at  large 
has  been  benefited  by  the  earlier  suggestions  of  the 
founder  of  scientific  management  himself.  Others,  both 
within  and  without  the  immediate  Taylor  following, 
acting  under  the  impulse  of  his  inspiration,  have  de- 
veloped the  technique  of  shop  management  in  this 
direction  or  that  to  a  more  advanced  point  than  Mr. 
Taylor  had  opportunity  to  attain.  Giving  Taylor  due 
credit  for  both  his  direct  and  his  indirect  influence,  it 
would  yet  be  folly  to  attribute  to  the  one  man  the  entire 
modern  drift  towards  efficiency  and  analysis  of  work; 
just  as  it  is  usually  a  superficial  verdict  that  gives  to  an 
inventor  the  sole  credit  for  having  started  industry  along 
channels  which  but  for  his  life  would  never  have  become 
known. 

Mr.  Taylor's  contribution  consists  in  having  seen  more 
clearly,  attacked  more  persistently,  and  solved  with 
greater  success  problems  of  whose  existence  most  other 
persons  were  but  dimly  aware.  Among  those  who  have 
been  intimately  associated  with  Taylor,  there  is  manifest 
a  stanch  loyalty  and  respect  for  his  leadership,  that  is 
ever  strengthening  his  title  to  rank — if  not  as  the  creator 
— at  least  as  one  of  the  foremost  spirits  behind  the 
modern  efficiency  movement.1 

1  Elihu  Root,  for  instance,  (Congressional  Record,  Feb.  23,  1915,  vol. 
52,  p.  4887)  deprecated  the  use  of  the  term  "Taylor  system,"  inasmuch 
as  the  effort  in  this  direction  "was  begun  in  our  Ordnance  Bureau  long 
before  Mr.  Taylor  was  generally  known."  In  support  of  the  principle 


2i4  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  [488 

4.    THE  FUTURE 

The  possibilities  latent  in  scientific  management  have 
already  been  discussed  in  the  chapter  on  the  productivity 
aspect.  How  far  such  hopes  will  actually  be  realized  in 
practice  and  to  what  extent  the  achievements  will  be 
regarded  as  "scientific  management," — that  is,  of  course, 
another  question.  It  is  at  present  evident  that  there 
will  be  many  obstacles  which  will  impede  progress.  The 
unfriendliness  of  organized  labor  has  been  noted.  The 
scientific-management  men,  strange  to  say,  complain 
more  of  the  opposition  of  employers.  Besides  being 
sceptical  as  to  the  merits  of  the  system,  those  in  author- 
ity generally  hesitate  to  permit  outsiders  to  reorganize 
their  plants ;  the  result  is  that  the  innovations  introduced, 
whether  by  the  regular  management  themselves,  or  in  a 
sporadic  way  by  efficiency  specialists,  are  apt  to  fall  far 
short  of  conforming  to  any  regular  type.  Even  in  plants 
where  scientific  management  has  been  installed  by  the 
most  skillful  experts,  as  soon  as  the  leaders  are  out  of 
sight  there  is  a  tendency  to  drift  back  into  old  habits. 
Hence  the  growing  insistence  on  having  an  "up-keep 
man,"  someone  permanently  connected  with  the  staff, 
who  will  supervise  efficiency  features.  Many  go  so  far 
as  to  urge  that  the  consulting  specialists  be  eliminated 
entirely.  Each  plant,  it  is  maintained,  must  solve  its 
own  problems. 

In  view  of  these  practical  considerations,  it  would  be 
very  strange  indeed  if  the  scientific  management  which 
we  have  discussed  is  not  in  the  future  greatly  transformed 
and  differentiated.  One  may  say  that  this  or  that  thing 

involved,  however,  Mr.  Root,  who  has  been  interested  along  these 
lines  ever  since  he  was  Secretary  of  War,  made  one  of  the  strongest 
appeals  that  has  yet  been  presented. 


489]          OTHER  CRITICISMS  AND  CONCLUSIONS  2I$ 

seems  good  and  that  the  indications  are  that  it  will  come 
into  wide  use;  but  to  maintain  that  scientific  manage- 
agement,  as  it  is  now  known,  will  one  day  dominate  the 
industry  of  America  or  of  the  world,  would  be  to  make 
a  hazardous  prediction.1 

Nevertheless,  it  is  certain  that  industry  is  in  a  general 
way  moving  in  the  direction  of  scientific  management ; 
and  there  is  a  strong  belief  on  the  part  of  many  inti- 
mately acquainted  with  present  conditions  that  it  will 
eventually  arrive  at  many  of  the  things  described  in  this 
treatise. 

*For  instance,  the  fundamentals  of  the  Halsey  "Premium  System" 
frequently  find  a  place  beside  elementary  time  study,  motion  study,  rout- 
ing, and  other  scientific-management  features,  in  a  highly  composite 
system. 


INDEX 


(NOTE:  Consult  analytical  Table  of  Contents.) 


Acme  Wire  Co.,  100 

American  Economic  Review,  204 

American  Engineer  and  Railroad 
Journal,  127 

American  Federation  of  Labor, 
140,  178 

American  Locomotive  Co.,  94 

American  Society  of  Mechanical 
Engineers,  interest  in  manage- 
ment, 17,  30-32,  36,  38,  .41,  54 
66,  74;  sci.  man.  applied  to, 
io6n. ;  support  of  sci.  man.,  119; 
report  on  sci.  man.,  145-147 

Army  appropriations,  sci.  man. 
outlawed  in,  141 ;  see  Congress, 
Watertown  Arsenal. 

Arsenals,  see  Watertown  Ar- 
senal, Frankford  Arsenal,  Rock 
Island  Arsenal. 

Automatons,  charge  that  men  be- 
come, 159,  188,  195-197;  see  In- 
struction cards,  Motion  study, 
Planning. 

Babcock,  G.  D.,  145 

Bancroft,  J.,  works  of,  94 

Bargain,  see  Collective  bargain. 

Earth,  C.  G.,  22n.,  26,  92,  96-99, 
122,  130,  134,  138 

Bethlehem  Steel  Co.,  26,  77-79, 
89,  92-94,  97,  non.,  120-124, 
I56n.,  175,  176,  194,  199 

"  Betterment  work,"  126-129,  see 
Santa  Fe. 

Bibliography,  on  efficiency,  2on., 
21 ;  foreign  literature,  90,  148 ; 
Taylor's  works.  91 ;  Gantt's 
works,  96n. ;  Gilbreth's  works, 
113;  Emerson's  works,  117; 
other  authorities,  i8n.,  19,  20, 
22n.,  28n,,  31,  32,  37n.,  38,  42, 
49n.,  6sn.,  io8n.,  117,  118,  122, 

49i] 


I27n.,   138,   139,   145,   I46n.,   149, 
162,     I74n.,     175,     i78n.,     i92n., 
2O4n.,  21  in.,  2i3n. 
Bicycle-ball-bearing  inspection,  79, 

124 

Bonus  to  foremen,  94,  129,  140 
Bonus  to   workmen,   place  of,  in- 
sci.  man.,  24,  67,  I47n.,  166,  169; 
Gantt's     invention     of,     92-94 ; 
variations  of,  115,  122,  125,  139, 
142 ;  effect  on  output,  121,  165 ; 
effect  on  wages,  109,  I23n.,  129, 
134*  135,  139,  144,  201 ;  attitude 
of  labor  towards,  140,  177,  188, 
192,    193;    debarred   from   arse- 
nals, 141 ;  determination  of,  182 ; 
under    collective    bargain,    185, 
187 ;  effect  on  health,  189-195 
Brandeis,  L.  D.,  15-18,  21,  82,  131 
Bricklaying,  79,  107,  109-111,  125- 

126,  159 

Brighton  Mills,  95,  117 
Building  trades,  26,  107,  108 
Bulletin-boards,      127,      133,      see 
Routing. 

Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  94,  158 

Carnegie  Foundation  for  the  Ad- 
vancement of  Teaching,  101-106 

Cheney t  Silk  Mills,  95 

Class  distinctions,  sci.  man.'s  posi- 
tion with  reference  to,  i72n., 
179,  198,  199,  204n.,  209,  211 

Closed  shop,  sci.  man.  in,  177 

"Coaching"  workmen,  159;  see 
Motion  study. 

Collective  bargain,  introduction 
under  sci.  man.,,  125,  177,  185- 
187 ;  view  of  sci.  man.  respect- 
ing, 173;  desirability  of,  178-185 

Columbia  University,  ign.,  102 

Commons,  J.  R.,  49n. 

217 


218 


INDEX 


[492 


Concentration,  see  Industrial  inte- 
gration. 

Congress,  action  of,  concerning 
sci.  man.,  19,  140,  141,  177,  178, 
188,  190-193 

Consumers'  League,  Illinois,  142 
Cooke,  M.  L.,  26,  101-106,  149,  153 
Cotton  industry,  141-144,  158 
Crozier,    Gen.,    124,    138-141,    155, 

159,  1 86,  188,  190-192 
Curtis  Publishing  Co.,  145 

Dartmouth  College  Conference, 
19 ;  see  Tuck  School  Conference. 

Day,  C,  117 

Day  &  Zimmerman,  117 

Day  rate,  as  basis  of  premium  or 
bonus  plan,  43-46,  51,  93,  94, 
115,  122,  125,  134,  135,  140,  185 

Day-work,  32,  33,  42,  54,  67,  139, 
156 

Departmental  system,  162,  163 

Differential  rate,  59-63;  see  Wage 
systems — Taylor's. 

Disciplinarian,  shop,  duties  of,  86 

Dispatching,  see  Routing. 

Division  of  labor,  84-86,  103,  104, 
163,  167,  189,  194,  212 ;  see  Plan- 
ning, separated  from  perform- 
ing. 

Dodge,  J.  M.,  22n.,  118,  119,  135, 
137 

Duncan,  J.  C.,  162 

Earle,  Mr.,  94 

Efficiency,  proposed  as  name  for 
what  is  now  called  sci.  man., 
i8n. ;  society  organized  to  pro- 
mote, 19;  bibliography  on,  21; 
contrasted  with  sci.  man.,  114; 
employee's  per  cent  of,  115; 
idea  of,  popularized,  117 

Efficiency  Society,  Inc.,  19,  118 

Effort  under  sci.  man.,  189,  190, 
191,  195;  see  Initiative,  Over- 
work. 

Elementary  rate-fixing,  55,  63,  69, 
70 

Elementary  time  study,  55-59;  see 
Time  study. 

Emerson,  H.,  18,  22n.,  108,  113- 
117,  126-129,  147,  148,  162,  187, 
195 

Emerson  Co.,  114 

Employees,    attitude    of,    towards 


sci.  man.,  121,  126,  140,  143,  144, 
172,  176,  188,  191-193,  196 

Employers,  attitude  of,  towards 
sci.  man.,  119,  120-124,  125,  128, 
129,  138,  214 

Employment,  tenure  of,  136,  160, 
200 

England,  profit  sharing  in,  37; 
premium  plan  in,  49;  Rowan 
plan  in,  50;  trade  unions  in, 
171,  I74n. 

Europe,  profit  sharing  in,  37,  39; 
sci.  man.  in,  53,  90,  148;  pro- 
gressive wages  in,  65n. ;  Taylor 
educated  in,  88 ;  influence  of,  on 
Emerson,  113 

Fairbanks  Scale  Co.,  99 
Fatigue  study,  78,  no,  143,  190 
Feed   of    metal-cutting   machines, 

definition  of,  74n. 
Ferracute  Machine  Co.,  144 
Forbes  Lithograph  Co.,  144 
Foremen,  as  teachers,  83;  scarcity 
of  good  all-around,  84 ;  types  of, 
under  sci.  man.,  85,  86 ;   bonus 
to,    94,    129,    140;    selection    of, 
199 ;     see    Functional    manage- 
ment. 

Frankford  Arsenal,  192,  193 
Franklin,  H.  H.,  Mfg.  Co.,  145 
Frederick,  Christine,  28n. 
Froggatt,  Morrison  &  Co.,  117 
Functional  management,   i8n.,  84- 
86,  103,  104,  I25n.,  132,  133,  137, 
161-163,  196 

Future,  sci.  man.  in  the,  166-168, 
179,  1 80,*  187,  200,  20 1,  203,  204, 
205,  207-209,  214 

Gain-sharing,  H.  R.  Towne's,  38- 

41,  48n. 

Gang  boss,  duties  of,  85,  133 
Gantt,  H.  L.,  i8n.,  22n.,  26,  67,  92- 

96,  115,  n6n.,  121,  122,  141,  142, 

195 

Gilbreth,  F.  B.,  i8n.,  22n.,  79,  108- 
113,  125-126 

Gilman,  N.  P.,  37,  38n.,  4in. 

Godfrey,  H.,  117 

Going,  J.  B.,  22n. 

Gompers,  S.,  140 

Government  service,  sci.  man.  in, 
see  Watertown  Arsenal,  Con- 
gress. 


493] 


INDEX 


219 


Halsey,  F.  A.,  41-52,  5411.,  64,  155, 

21511. 
Harmony,    ideal  of,   under   profit 

sharing,  36;  under  gain-sharing, 

39;    under    premium    plan,    47; 

under  sci.  man.,  23,  25n.,  62,  63, 

144,  155,  172,  176,  181,  183;  see 

Employees,  attitude  of. 
Harvard  University,   ign.,  20,  88, 

1  02,  104 
Hathaway,   H.   K.,   22n.,   99,    loo, 

130,  I3in.,  174,  175,  i89n. 
Health,    effect    of    sci.    man.    on, 

141-144,    196,     197;    see    Over- 

work. 
High-speed    steel,    Taylor-White, 

90,  137,  164 
House  of  Representatives,  special 

committee  of,  to  investigate  sci. 

man.,  -19,    140,    190;    action    re- 

garding sci.  man.,   141  ;   debate, 

192;  see  Congress. 
Human  nature,   Taylor's  analysis 

of,  68,  84,  198 

Illinois  Consumers'  League,  142 
Industrial  Engineering,  118 
Industrial    integration,     167,     207, 

209,  2ii 
Industrial   Relations   Commission, 

9in.,  I23n.,  136,  I47n.,  176,  17811., 

187,  2O4n. 

Industrial  revolution,  168,  211 
Initiative,    rousing    of,    24,    66-69, 

101,  153-156,  165,  169 
Inspector,  duties  of,  85,  133 
Instruction-card  clerk,  duties  of,  86 
Instruction  cards,  73-77,   122,  133, 

137,  158,  196 
Integration,    industrial,    167,    207, 

209,  211 
Intellectual   life   under   sci.   man., 

197,  198 
International  Association  of  Ma- 

chinists, 140 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission, 

rate-advance    cases,    15-22,    140, 

177 

Jones,  E.  D.,  20411. 
Journal  of  Political  Economy,  20, 
io8n., 


Kendall,  H.  P.,  22n.,  144 
Kent,  R.  T.,  i8n.,  22n.,  118,  145 
Wm.,  3811.,  48,  117 


Labor^  see  Automatons,  Bonus  to 
workmen,  Class  distinctions,  Di- 
vision of  labor,  Employees,  atti- 
tude of,  Employment,  Harmony, 
Health,  Leadership,  Organized 
labor,  Promotion,  Restrictions 
on  output,  Selection  of  employ- 
ees, Skill,  Strikes,  Supermen, 
Time  study,  Wages,  Wage  sys- 
tems. 

Leadership,  83,  173,  2O4n. 

Leclaire,  M.,  37 

Leroy-Beaulieu,  M.,  6sn. 

Lewis,  W.,  130 

Library  of  Congress,  2on. 

"Line  and  staff,"  Emerson's,  115, 
162,  163 

Link-Belt  Co.,  27,  98,  99,  100,  117, 
134-138,  I72n.,  176 

Low-priced  labor,  no,  199;  see 
Wages. 

McClure,  S.  S.,  142 

McElwain,  W.  H.,  I7n. 

Machinery,  168,  170,  202,  212 

Machines,  charge  that  men  be- 
come, see  Automatons. 

Machinists,  International  Associa- 
tion of,  140 

Management,  importance  of,  25n., 
31,  137,  168,  215;  Emerson's 
type  of,  115,  127;  Gantt's,  95,  96; 
Gilbreth's,  112;  Taylor's,  9in.; 
see  Functional  management,  Sci- 
entific management,"  Shop  Man- 
agement," Wage  systems. 

Manhattan  Press,  145 

"  Mental  revolution,"  the,  25n., 
144,  172,  197;  see  Harmony. 

Merrick,  D.  V.,  117 

Metal-cutting,  73-77,  go,  92,  97, 
137,  164  m 

Methods,  improvement  of,  24,  69- 
82,  102,  157-161,  166,  167,  189, 
207,  208 

Meyer,  H.  H.  B.,  2on.,  21  n. 

Micro-motion  study,  in 

Midvale  Steel  Co.,  22,  23,  70,  88, 
92,  99,  1 20,  176 

Mixter,  C.  W.,  118 

Morrison,  C.  J.,  117 

Motion  study,  examples  of,  77-79, 
80,  106-108,  109-112,  I23n. ;  place 
in  sci.  man.,  159;  effect  on 
workmen,  197 ;  see  Time  study. 


22O 


INDEX 


[494 


Navy    appropriations,     sci.     man. 

outlawed  in,  141 ;  see  Congress, 

Watertown  Arsenal. 
New  England  Butt  Co.,  in,  164 
Non-industrial  applications  of  sci. 

man.,  19,  28n.,  101-106,  112,  148, 

i68n. 
Non-repetitive  work,  58,  156,  I57n. 

O'Connell,  J.,  140 

Order  of  work  or  route  clerk, 
duties  of,  73,  133 

Ordnance,  Chief  of,  see  Gen.  Cro- 
zier. 

Organization,  82-86,  103,  104,  161- 
163;  see  Functional  manage- 
ment, Industrial  integration, 
Harmony. 

Organized  labor,  19,  34,  125,  126, 
140,  141,  144,  169-187,  188,  191- 
193;  see  Strikes,  Employees, 
attitude  of,  Overwork,  Autom- 
atons. 

Outlook,  i8n. 

Overwork,  evidence  suggestive  of, 
67,  78,  79,  no,  I23n.,  154;  inves- 
tigations into,  141-144,  188-195; 
natural  checks  on,  206;  sci. 
man.'s  plan  of  avoiding,  212 

Parkhurst,  F.  A.,  116,  117,  144 

Partridge,  W.  E.,  38n. 

Petitions  for  abolishment  of  sci. 
man.,  141,  188,  192,  193;  see 
Employees,  attitude  of. 

Philadelphia  government,  sci.  man. 
in,  106 

Phillips  Exeter  Academy,  Taylor 
at,  88 

Photographic  records  of  motions, 
112 

"Piece-Rate  System,  A,"  54-65, 
70,  7i,  153 

Piece-work,  antagonism  resulting 
from,  23 ;  ordinary  course  of, 
32-36;  Halsey's  adaptation  of, 
42-47;  Taylor's  indictment  of, 
54;  advantages  of  scientifically 
established,  58,  59;  differential 
rate,  59-65,  67;  resemblance  of 
Gantt's  plan  to,  93;  Gilbreth's 
substitute  for,  125 ;  when  least 
loss  under  straight,  155,  156, 
I57n. 

Pig-iron  handling,  77-79,  123,  124, 
159,  194 


Planning,  separated  from  per- 
forming, 82,  84,  198;  see  Meth- 
ods, Organization,  Leadership. 

Planning  department,  75,  83-86, 
132,  133,  i89n,  196 

Plimpton  Press,  144 

Popular  interest  in  sci.  man.,  16, 
17,  18-21,  108,  117,  148 

Premium,  see  Bonus. 

Premium  plan,  F.  A.  Halsey's,  41- 
52,  64,  155,  2i5n. 

Profit  sharing,  36-38,  39,  42 

Progressive  wages,  6sn. 

Promotion,  160,  180,  199 

Pullman  Co.,  99 

Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics, 
I46n. 

Railroads,  sci.  man.  on,  16,  17,  18, 
22n.,  94,  113,  H4,  126-129,  158; 
rate-advance  cases,  see  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission. 

Railway  Age  Gazette,  ign. 

Rate-advance  cases,  see  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission. 

Rate-cutting,  evils  of,  23,  121 ; 
reason  for,  34-35 ;  Halsey's  plan 
to  avoid,  42-47 ;  Rowan's  plan 
to  avoid,  50,  51 ;  Taylor's  plan 
to  avoid,  54,  55,  59;  effects  of 
stopping,  62 

Rate-fixing,  55,  63,  69,  70;  see 
Time  study. 

Reagan,  J.  C,  145 

Redfield,  W.  C,  141,  190 

Repair  boss,  duties  of,  85 

Remington  Typewriter,  95n. 

Restrictions  on  output,  34,  47,  54, 
62,  170,  I74n. 

Rock  Island  Arsenal,  140 

Root,  Elihu,  2i3n. 

Routing,  function  of,  71-73;  ex- 
amples of,  I23n.,  127,  133.  136; 
value  of,  158,  209 

Rowan  plan,  50-52 

Santa    Fe    Railway,    114,    126-129, 

175 

Sayle's  Bleacheries,  94 
Scheduling,  see  Routing. 
Schloss,  D.  F.,  32,  38n. 
Schwab,  C.  M.,  120-122 
Secretary  of   War,  memorandum 

submitted  to,  139 


495] 


INDEX 


221 


Selection  of  employees,  79, 80, 160 ; 

see  Promotion. 
Sellers  &  Co.,  Wm.,  96,  98 
Senate,  141,  192;  see  Congress. 
Sheel,  H.  V.,  i8n.,  22n.,<  117 
Shop  disciplinarian,  duties  of,  86 
"  Shop     Management,"      Taylor's 

paper  on,  i6n.,  48n.,  66-87,  IOQ, 

116,  122,  130,  153;  suggested  as 

name    for    what   is   now   called 

sci.  man.,  i8n. 
Shoveling,  at  Bethlehem,  77n.,  123, 

124,  I57n.,  159;  coal,  154 
".Singing  tone,"  studies  of,  112 
Skill,  179,  199,  200 
Slide  rule,  75,  92,  97 
Smith,  A.  B.,  113 
Socialism,  209 
Society  for  the  Promotion  of  the 

Science    of    Management,    118, 

MS 

"Soldiering,"  190;  see  Restric- 
tions on  output. 

Special  Libraries,  2On. 

Specialization,  see  Division  of 
labor. 

Speed  of  metal-cutting  machines, 
definition  of,  74n. 

Speed  boss,  duties  of,  85,  133 

Speeding  up,  see  Overwork. 

Springer  Torsion  Balance  Co.,  48 

"  Staff,  line  and,"  Emerson's,  115, 
162,  163 

Standardization,  69-71,  81,  107, 
127,  157,  158 

Stevens  Institute  of  Technology, 
89,  92 

Stop  watch,  56,  in,  139,  141,  188- 
198;  see  Time  study. 

Stores  management,  80,  132,  133, 
136,  139,  161 

Storey,  W.  B.,  129 

Strikes,  121,  125,  126,  130,  140, 
169,  175,  176 

Supermen  under  sci.  man.,  67,  79, 
127,  160 

Supplies,  80,  81 ;  see  Stores  man- 
agement. 

Surgery,    micro-motion   study    of, 

112 

Survey,  i8n. 

Symonds  Rolling  Machine  Co.,  79, 
124, 


Tabor  Mfg.  Co.,  27,  73,  81,  83, 
130-135,  137,  138,  147,  176,  189 
n.  i,  n.  4 

Task-setting,  under  sci.  man.,  23, 
68,  101,  102,  153,  154,  173,  181, 
186 ;  see  Time  study,  Overwork ; 
under  premium  plan,  46 

"Task  Work  with  a  Bonus," 
Gantt's,  24,  67,  92-94,  US,  122, 
195;  see  Bonus. 

Taylor,  F.  W.,  life  of,  88-91 ; 
methods  used  by,  54-87,  9in., 
160,  161,  169-174,  182,  186,  198; 
as  leader  in  sci.  man.,  16,  22-27, 
30,  92,  97,  98,  99,  108,  109,  113, 
114-117,  118,  130,  134,  145,  148, 
210-213;  outcome  of  work  of, 
120-125;  statements  by,  33,  48n., 
106,  108,  136,  147,  166,  i68n.,  176, 
I77n.,  2O4n. 

Taylor  system,  i8n.,  29,  99,  141, 
190,  2i3n. 

Taylor-White  high-speed  steel,  90, 
137,  164 

Thompson,  C.  B.,  2on.,  io6n.,  I25n., 
I46n.r  I47n. ;  S.  E.,  106-108,  I25n. 

Tilson,  J.  Q.,  141 

Time  and  cost  clerk,  duties  of,  86 

Time  study,  place  in  sci.  man.,  23, 
55.  63,  69,  70,  153-155:  elemen- 
tary, 56-59;  Taylor's,  9m.; 
Thompson's,  106-108;  Gilbreth's, 
in;  Emerson's,  115;  at  Bethle- 
hem, 122;  on  Santa  Fe,  127;  at 
Tabor,  134;  at  Link-Belt,  136; 
at  Watertown,  139;  opposition 
to,  141,  188-195 ;  when  profitable, 
156;  under  collective  bargain, 
173,  181,  186,  187;  see  Motion 
study. 

Tool  rooms,  under  sci.  man.,  81, 
132 

Towne,  H.  R.,  22n.,  31,  38-41,  48n., 
64,  118,  119 

Trade  agreement,  see  Collective 
bargain. 

Trade  lines,  under  sci.  man.,  179 

Trade  unions,  see  Organized  labor. 

Training  for  sci.  man.,  134;  see 
University  courses  in  sci.  man. 

Tuck  School  Conference,  I9n., 
34n.,  io6n. 

Union  Typewriter  Co.,  95 
Unions,  see  Organized  labor. 


222 


INDEX 


[496 


United  States,  profit  sharing  in, 
37 ;  premium  plan  in,  49 ;  Rowan 
plan  not  followed  in,  50;  as 
home  of  sci.  man.,  148 

Unit  times,  65,  68,  153,  154;  see 
Elementary  time  study. 

Universities,  sci.  man.  applied  to, 
101-106,  i68n. 

University  courses  in  sci.  man., 
19,  118,  2O4n. 

University  of  Pennsylvania,  Tay- 
lor given  degree  by,  90 

University  of  Toronto,  104 

Up-keep  man,  214 

Van  Alstyne,  D.,  187 

Wages,  on  railroads,  16;  under 
sci.  man.,  level  of,  67,  68,  121, 
180,  190,  195,  201-202;  how  fixed, 
86,  173,  181-183,  185,  186,  187; 
groups  receiving  low,  no,  199 

Wage  systems  —  Taylor's,  54-69, 
9in.,  182;  Gantt's,  67,  92-94,  95, 
195;  Emerson's,  115,  187;  in 
bricklaying,  109,  125 ;  at  Bethle- 


hem, 122;  on  Santa  Fe,  127, 129; 
at  Tabor,  134 ;  at  Link-Belt,  135 ; 
at  Watertown,  139;  in  cotton 
industry,  142 ;  see  Day-work, 
Piece-work,  Profit  sharing,  Gain- 
sharing,  Premium  plan,  Rowan 
plan. 

War  Department  and  sci.  man., 
141 ;  see  Watertown  Arsenal. 

Watertown  Arsenal,  124,  138-141, 
155,  159,  164,  178,  188,  ioo-i93> 
2i3n. 

Weeks,  Sen.,  192 

Wentworth,  G.  A.,  88 

Western  Economic  Association,  20 

Westinghouse  Electric  Co.,  95 

Wheeler,  Col.,  I4in. 

White,  Maunsel,  90 

Williams,  C.  C.,  I4in. ;  J.  H.,  22n., 
I77n. 

Wilson,  W.  B.,  I9n.,  141,  190 

Women  under  sci.  man.,  142-144 

Wyatt,  Edith,  142-144,  158 

Yale  &  Towne  Mfg.  Co.,  41  n.,  99, 
118,  145 


VITA 


THE  author  was  born  August  21,  1888,  at  Dayton,. 
Ohio.  After  completing  the  usual  primary  and  second- 
ary work  there,  he  attended  Otterbein  University  (1906- 
10),  University  of  Chicago  (summer  quarter  1911), 
and  Columbia  University  (1912-14).  At  Columbia  he 
worked  in  the  seminars  of  Professors  Seligman,  Seager, 
Mussey,  and  Simkhovitch,  being  under  the  special  direc- 
tion of  Professors  Seager  and  Mussey.  In  addition  to 
the  above,  he  studied  economics  under  Professors  Clark, 
Mitchell,  Fetter,  and  Anderson.  His  work  included 
courses  in  sociology  under  Professors  Giddings  and 
Chaddock,  in  the  history  of  English  law  under  Dr. 
Hazeltine,  in  municipal  science  under  Professor  McBain,. 
in  industrial  history  under  Professor  Shotwell,  and  in 
psychology  under  Professors  Dewey  and  Woodworth. 

The  author  holds  the  degrees  of  A.  B.  (Otterbein, 
1910)  and  A.  M.  (Columbia,  1913);  and  was  at  the  latter 
institution  President's  University  Scholar  in  Economics 
(191,3-14).  He  has  published  "  Organized  Labor  and 
Scientific  Management,"  Industrial  Engineering,  March, 
April,  May,  1914,  the  same  being  reprinted  in  part  in 
Greater  Efficiency,  March-April,  1914.  He  was  an  in- 
structor in  Southwestern  University  (1911-12),  and 
since  1914  has  been  Instructor  in  Economics  and  Soci- 
ology, Ohio  State  University. 

223 


14  DAY  USE 

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